The fraud investigation into Community Action of Minneapolis produced a second conviction Tuesday, when Jordan Davis was found guilty of conspiring with his father, longtime CEO Bill Davis, to steal from the nonprofit.
A federal jury in Minneapolis took less than two hours to find Jordan Davis, 35, guilty of five counts of aiding and abetting mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit theft from an organization that received federal funds.
The younger Davis, now an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, helped run a Ben & Jerry's franchise near the University of Minnesota established by Community Action to provide job training for at-risk teenagers.
Prosecutors alleged that Jordan Davis received paychecks from Community Action long after he ceased managing the franchise and became a full-time police officer.
Father and son were indicted last year after an investigation that began with a Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) audit that revealed the nonprofit misspent at least $800,000 between 2011 and 2013 on unauthorized expenses including a car loan for Bill Davis, luxury travel and golf outings.
"Jordan Davis took more than $140,000 in salary that he did not earn," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Svendsen said in a statement after the verdict. "The agreement this defendant made with his father to steal from [Community Action] destroyed opportunities for underprivileged youth to learn valuable job skills."
Davis and his attorney did not respond to request for comment Tuesday.
Awaiting the judge and jury Tuesday morning, Davis stood somberly at his defense table, briefly stepping aside to console two supporters who were already sobbing. Davis and his attorney, Frederic Bruno, both dropped their heads as Judge Patrick Schiltz read the jury's first guilty verdict. As they exited the courtroom, two supporters shouted at prosecutors, "You put an innocent man in prison."
