Daughters of Idaho woman, whose husband’s body was found in a lake, plead guilty to conspiracy
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COEUR D’ALENE — Two sisters from Spokane Valley, Washington pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit federal program theft.
Amber Annette Hosking, 39, and Jessica Fay Barnes, 32, allegedly conspired with their mother, Laurcene “Lori” Isenberg, when she was employed with the North Idaho Housing Coalition to commit federal program theft from 2015 until February 2018, according to court documents.
The conspiracy involved the sisters receiving money from the Coalition after Isenberg allegedly submitted false bills for work never performed. Isenberg, knowing the bills were false, still paid the sisters from the Coalition’s bank accounts. The sisters knew the bills submitted to the Coalition were false, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.
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Hosking agreed to forfeit at least $16,500 obtained from the crime, while Barnes agreed to forfeit at least $15,000 obtained from her part in the crime.
Hosking and Barnes’ sentencings are set for January 29, 2019 before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene. Each faces a maximum punishment of up to five years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine.
Isenberg, 64, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Coeur d’Alene federal court to four counts of stealing more than a half million dollars from the Coalition. She’s accused of stealing at least $579,000 in HUD grant money while working at the Coalition for almost a decade.
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Meanwhile, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the suspicious death of Isenberg’s husband, Larry Isenberg, whose body was found in Lake Coeur d’Alene earlier this year. Lori Isenberg claimed Larry fell off the couple’s boat in February and likely drowned. In July, a coroner’s report showed Larry was killed by a massive overdose of an antihistamine.