Secret payments, damning audit. King County’s youth violence prevention effort, mired in scandal

In the latest scandal involving a high-profile King County initiative, a county staffer was found to have secretly received $323,000 in payments in an alleged kickback scheme with a nonprofit leader he knew from prison.

In 2020, in the wake of intense civil rights protests, King County Executive Dow Constantine made a bold pronouncement: The county would close its brand-new youth jail. “We can do better,” he said.

As part of Constantine’s Zero Youth Detention plan, the county would give millions to grassroots organizations to work closely with young people most at risk of gun violence.

This initiative was heralded as a public health approach, with activists leading the response to gun violence in their communities. Outreach workers would rush to shooting scenes to ward off retaliatory violence. Others would visit young gunshot victims in the hospital and provide their families with financial support and services.

RELATED: Why is a convicted sex offender with false credentials running a King County-funded youth program?

Three years in, corruption has plagued the Regional Peacekeepers Collective, the coalition of nonprofits awarded roughly $16 million in county contracts “to prevent and eliminate youth gun violence.” These ongoing issues raise questions about how the county oversees millions of dollars meant to support and protect primarily Black youth — and how it vets nonprofits that work closely with some of the county’s most vulnerable young people.

Cracks showed early, when the head of one organization was revealed to be a twice-convicted sex offender who faked his social work credentials. (The county admitted that it hadn’t run background checks on youth outreach workers.)

Last year, the former finance director at the lead Peacekeepers nonprofit was convicted of embezzling nearly $900,000 from the organization.

RELATED: Former exec for Seattle nonprofits pleads guilty to blowing $3 million on casinos, clothes, travel

In the latest revelation, investigators found that a county staffer secretly received at least $323,000 from an organization that he had recommended as a Peacekeepers subcontractor, and whose outreach work he oversaw.

In 2023, the Seabold Group, an independent auditor hired to examine the string of Peacekeepers problems, criticized the county’s selection process and lax oversight of the nonprofits. Many were new to measuring and reporting results, the auditor found, and some were suddenly handling millions of dollars after previously operating on just a few hundred thousand.

“Many of the subcontractors did not have the capabilities, training, or experience necessary to comply” with the county’s standard oversight requirements, the Seabold Group said, noting the county’s “infrequency of site visits and fiscal monitoring.”

Executive Constantine repeatedly declined KUOW requests to be interviewed about the troubles facing the Regional Peacekeepers Collective. He frequently touts the program as taking a public health approach to racism and public safety.

“We remain committed to working with responsible stewards and supporting trusted partners in this life-saving work,” he said in an emailed statement last month in lieu of an interview.

Alleged Kickback Scheme

Willard Jimerson Jr., a juvenile justice reform advocate, was a manager at the Regional Peacekeepers Collective who the county hired in 2020.

Related: King County gave millions to ‘No Youth Jail’ activists to help kids

Jimerson had mentored young people in the criminal legal system, and collaborated with KUOW in 2018 for stories about why young people carry guns. Jimerson spoke from experience: At age 13, he was sentenced to prison for 23 years, one of the youngest children ever tried as an adult in Washington.

In 2022, the county received an anonymous tip alleging that Jimerson was involved in a kickback scheme with the head of one of the Peacekeepers nonprofits he oversaw. According to the tipster, Jimerson had steered subcontracts to Freedom Project, a Renton-based organization, in exchange for payments from its executive director, David Heppard.

Said the whistleblower, “All this support they are being paid to provide isn’t taking place. And King County harbors the dishonest employees.”

Jimerson met Heppard at McNeil Island Corrections Center during the two decades they both spent in state prison beginning as teenagers in 1994: Heppard, for rape, witness intimidation, and robbery; Jimerson, for murdering a 14-year-old girl.

When King County looked into the kickback allegations, Jimerson and Heppard denied having business ties.

“I’ve never double-dipped, he’s never paid me, I’ve never paid him,” Jimerson told a county investigator in July 2023, according to interview notes obtained by KUOW.

But two whistleblowers at Freedom Project contradicted those claims, and sent internal financial records to the Office of the Ombuds, which investigates allegations of ethics violations by county employees.

According to the investigator’s notes, “One witness indicated they were present during a conversation between Mr. Heppard and Mr. Jimerson when they discussed their answers to [King County’s] questions, and that Mr. Jimerson stated he had sent Mr. Heppard a text telling him what to say.”

Invoices, checks, and bank statements from Freedom Project showed dozens of payments from the organization to Jimerson and two businesses he controlled while he worked on its county contracts. Str8-Up Cleaning, which was also registered to his girlfriend, received payments for janitorial services; United Better Thinking, his nonprofit, billed Freedom Project for staff training, program development and other work.

“The witnesses indicated much of this money was given for services not performed,” said the Ombuds report.

At the time, King County had eight contracts with Freedom Project worth $4.8 million, across multiple departments.

Public corruption is a federal matter, so the Ombuds paused its ethics probe and notified the King County Council on Oct. 6, 2023, that “the FBI will be investigating.”

Citing policy, FBI and Department of Justice representatives declined to acknowledge or comment on the case.

An attorney for Freedom Project told its liability insurer in a letter last May that the nonprofit faced expenses related to an FBI investigation, county investigations and a grand jury subpoena - plus the discovery that “one of the terminated employees deleted thousands of documents and emails.”

A Freedom Project spokesperson told KUOW that the organization could not elaborate on the grand jury proceedings, but that they did not concern “Freedom Project's operations and finances.”

Ombuds Finding

On Sept. 16, the King County Ombuds determined that Jimerson had violated the employee ethics code by covertly accepting payments from Freedom Project, and fined him $7,100. Jimerson declined KUOW’s interview request through his attorney.

Jimerson is appealing the finding.

“I believe that the investigation did not grant me a fair opportunity to present my evidence,” Jimerson wrote in his notice of appeal to the Board of Ethics.

Before the King County Board of Ethics could review the appeal, however, it first needed members. There was only one person on the five-seat board.

The Ombuds forwarded the case to the King County Prosecutor’s Office this fall. Patrick Hinds, chief deputy prosecutor for the economic crimes division, said his unit is reviewing the case for potential felony theft charges.

King County fired Jimerson one year ago for calling in sick when he was actually in jail and court on suspicion of assault and other charges. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

At Freedom Project, “The board took immediate action” when it learned of the county Ombuds investigation in 2023, a spokesperson said. “David Heppard, [wife] Yolanda Heppard, and the person managing the organizational finances during that time are no longer with Freedom Project.”

Heppard and 10 former colleagues from Freedom Project quickly created a new nonprofit, the Black Rose Collective, which also focuses on criminal justice reform and prison reentry, according to its website. This fall, the Black Rose Collective was announced as one of four local organizations to share a $1.2 million violence prevention grant from the U.S. Justice Department.

Heppard did not respond to KUOW’s requests for comment.

King County Executive Constantine defended the Peacekeepers initiative, saying by email, “The Regional Peacekeepers Collective has made a significant impact by enrolling over 500 young people in services, responding to over 400 critical incidents, and supporting families affected by gun violence.”

Constantine added another $7.9 million for the program to his 2025 budget, and said the county has “strengthened oversight” by partnering with an experienced nonprofit to oversee the Peacekeeper organizations’ work – which still includes Freedom Project.

In the three years since Constantine announced the Regional Peacekeepers Collective, youth gun violence has increased, mirroring a national trend: This year, there were 49 juvenile shooting victims in King County by the end of September. The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office called the number a record high.

Correction 12/14/2024: This story has been updated to reflect King County's current budget cycle. The county is doing an annual budget for 2025 and will revert to biennial budgets for 2026-2027 and beyond.