Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt today announced that Chantail Williams, 40, entered a guilty plea on one count of aggravated theft in the first degree in relation to her role in a fraud scheme resulting in a 1.5 million dollar loss for the City of Portland in 2022.
Case Facts
In May 2022, the Portland Police Bureau investigated an unauthorized intrusion into the City’s computer network. Officials had learned that an email account associated with the City had been hacked and that malware had corrupted the device. This intrusion was followed by fraudulent emails, and in June it was discovered that there had been fraudulent wire transfers meant for a housing project that were misdirected to an account based in Florida. This account belonged to a small business run by Williams. The theft is believed to have been orchestrated by malicious actors located overseas, and authorities continue to investigate those perpetrators. Williams was instrumental in this theft by knowingly facilitating the transfer of the stolen money, but is not believed to have been involved in the organization or planning of the fraud.
Plea & Sentencing
Deputy District Attorney Jesse Hoffman and Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Demer represented the state in this case. Today, October 14, 2024, Williams entered a guilty plea to one count of Aggravated Theft in the First Degree, and was sentenced to 5 years of supervised probation in addition to being ordered to pay restitution. One of the conditions of probation is for Williams to cooperate with the City’s ongoing investigation. Williams served over thirty days of jail during her extradition to Oregon and additional jail time was not imposed. At the sentencing hearing, Beth Woodard, Senior Deputy City Attorney, appeared on behalf of the City and expressed the City’s support for this resolution.
The DA’s Office would like to acknowledge the impact of this crime on the City of Portland, and its mission to create affordable housing. The money stolen was taken from the Bureau’s important mission to serve low-income households and we extend our appreciation to everyone who contributed to the successful resolution of this case. A special thank you to Detective Hearst and Detective Sahli of the Portland Police Bureau for their dedicated work on this case.
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