Columbus teacher pleads guilty to stealing $240K from Georgia nonprofits

COLUMBUS, Ga. - A Columbus teacher is facing years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from two Georgia nonprofits organizations

On Monday, 59-year-old Trenna Denise Trice pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court. 

Officials say they began an investigation into Trice in May 2019 after she lost a "significant" amount of money at a casino. According to court documents, officials say her sole source of income was as a teacher for the Muscogee County School District. Before teaching, she had worked at a dental office and as a volunteer campaign coordinator for the Columbus branch of the United Negro College Fund for over a decade.

In her role with the UNCF, Trice was responsible for organizing its primary fundraising activity and collected donations in the form of cash, cred card contributions, and checks. In their investigation, agents say they found that she had diverted smaller contributions to the fund for her own personal use, and learned that she had been let go from UNCF and the dental office after mutliple allegations into financial irregularities.

In all, officials say Trice deposited 109 checks and 265 credit card transactions into her own account. It is estimated she stole over $240,000 from UNCF, the dental office, the Georgia Dental Society, and another nonprofit that conducts a basketball camp for underprivileged children.

When confronted, the Columbus woman told investigators she had a "crippling gambling addiction" and was using the money to compensate her losses. She said she used outside ATMs and changed the settings in her Square App to hide she was receiving the money.

"Trenna Trice abused the trust of two non-profits, a small business and many individual citizens when she choose to steal money intended for others to fund her gambling addiction," said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. "I commend the FDIC-OIG investigators who unraveled her web of lies through their extensive investigation. Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will do everything in our power to bring fraudsters to justice."

Trice faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. She will be sentenced in March 2022

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