ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — Robert Jeffrey, Jr.’s second trial is underway in Roanoke, this time for embezzlement charges involving a nonprofit organization.
On Tuesday, March 15, the Roanoke City councilman was found guilty of taking money by false pretenses.
The embezzlement charges stem from an accusation of Jeffrey taking money from the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization (NNEO).
The organization started in 1982 and provides low-income housing for qualified individuals.
“He was entrusted with that money to do a specific job, and that was to manage the properties that NNEO owned. The evidence is going to demonstrate, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that Mr. Jeffery used that money in many different ways outside of that direction,” said Chief Prosecutor Sheri Mason.
Both the prosecution and defense are focusing on a time when Jeffrey created RLJ Property Management. Jeffrey was named property manager for Gilmer Housing Association and McCray Court in 2020.
The prosecution claims that from May 1, 2020 through April 30, 2021, Jeffrey embezzled more than $1,000 from the NNEO. They say he made several transactions using the organization’s housing accounts for Gilmer Housing and McCray.
Mason claims that he made purchases with Harvest Construction, Appliance Outlet, and American Freight.
During this time, he allegedly spent thousands of dollars to purchase furniture and kitchen appliances, as well as remodel his home on Wilmont Avenue in Roanoke, which was owned by his mother, Evangeline.
Other purchases included meals, entertainment, hotel stays, cell phone company payments, and more.
This is when the organization became suspicious and sounded the alarm.
Jeffrey’s lawyers say that he did make all of those transactions using those accounts. However, Jeffrey’s lawyer Johnathan Kurtin says they were made because they were authorized by members of the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization Board.
“What I am going to say next is might surprise you. It will surprise the Commonwealth. [It] might surprise the judge,” said Kurtin. “Mr. Jeffrey did all of those things, but the question is, why did he do them? He did that with specific authorization to benefit NNEO, and the citizens of northwest Roanoke.”
He also claims that part of the purchases was for transitional housing, that would temporarily be used to help find proper housing for the residents.
Kurtin says that this trial comes down to one question: “is this embezzlement or authorized expenditure?”
However, a former NNEO board member took the stand on Wednesday, March 16, claiming that the organization never had transitional housing, nor does he remember a board member authorizing Jeffrey’s expenses.
Jeffrey’s embezzlement trial will continue at noon on Thursday, March 17.
