The Chicago Housing Authority will receive restitution for money stolen by a former contractor and her husband after the pair pleaded guilty to stealing funds intended for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, a crime that was exposed following an investigation by the CHA’s Office of the Inspector General. Former contractor Charlene Potts and her husband Scott Washington pleaded guilty in Cook County Criminal Court on July 8 to stealing the funds totaling $177,712.03 while Potts worked for CHA contractor Quadel that, at the time, managed the HCV program.

Potts pleaded guilty to one count of financial crime conspiracy and was sentenced to four years in prison and Washington pleaded guilty to one count of continuing financial crimes enterprise and was sentenced to 30 months’ felony probation. Each was ordered to pay $88,500 in restitution. Potts and Washington were indicted in August 2013 following an investigation that began in October 2012 by CHA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which worked jointly with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of the Inspector General to uncover the theft scheme. Quadel no longer has a contract with the CHA and the agency recently issued a request for proposals for a cost benefit analysis to determine what, if any, improvements or changes might be made to the HCV program.