Valerie Tebbetts sentenced

Valerie Tebbetts, former head of the Boston Living Center, was sentenced on Wednesday, Dec. 14 to serve five years' probation for embezzling more than $120,000 from the organization while serving as its Executive Director between September 2008 and November 2010.

"[Tebbetts] very nearly brought down an organization that has been a treasured resource to the Boston community for 22 years," Sara Andrews, BLC Board Chair, wrote in a Victim Impact Statement submitted to the attorney general's office on Dec. 12. "She has caused tremendous pain and suffering to many, many people through her actions and we would hope for a punishment -- including a conviction and incarceration -- that would equal the damage she has inflicted on hundreds of people connected to the Boston Living Center."

The BLC is one of Boston's oldest non-profit organizations serving the HIV/AIDS community. The Boston Living Center offers free meals, social programs, and other forms of assistance to those living with the virus.

"[Tebbetts] has caused tremendous pain," Scott Galinsky, BLC Board Member and client, told The Boston Globe. The Board of Trustees asked Tebbetts to step down from her position as ED in February, following what was then referred to as a series of financial irregularities, including missing funds. The defendant was indicted Thursday, June 16 on three counts of larceny by embezzlement over $250 and false entries in corporate books, Attorney General Martha Coakley's office said. Investigators had found that Tebbetts had allegedly written company checks to her landlord to pay for rent, and had also made checks out to herself for cash.

In April of this year, the Boston Living Center issued an open letter to the community explaining the events surrounding Tebbetts' termination, issuing a request for community donations, and announcing a new collaboration with Victory Programs.

"We have always done a great deal of good with a very small budget; that budget has grown smaller in this difficult economy. That is why we were so disheartened to learn in November 2010 that the Executive Director at that time was misappropriating agency funds. The BLC Board took immediate action by terminating the Executive Director and beginning an intensive assessment of the impact of her actions," the letter read. "The BLC remains committed to creating a strong and vibrant future for the Center. Even prior to learning of the financial impropriety, the BLC had been considering partnerships as a way to strengthen our ability to provide important services to our clients. With this vision in mind the BLC has entered into an alliance with Victory Programs who has been a strong leader in the community for over 35 years and shares history and many common goals and values with the BLC."

Superior Court Judge Carol Ball last Wednesday sentenced Tebbetts to five years of court supervision after Tebbetts plead guilty to every count of fraud. The defendant has also been ordered to pay full restitution to the Boston Living Center and continue treatment for a gambling addiction.