[1]Judy Chafin, right, and her lawyer Sam Groberg listen as L&I investigator Russell Gow testifies in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Chehalis woman who operated what became controversial halfway houses in Lewis County for newly released prisoners and homeless persons contends she’s innocent of the latest charges against her, allegedly working at the same time she was collecting payments for an on-the-job injury.
A judge will decide.
Judy Chafin, 62, was in Lewis County Superior Court this morning when a bench trial began that is scheduled for three days.
Chafin is charged with 30 counts of forgery and two counts of first-degree theft, based on benefits received from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries and Social Security disability.
Defense attorney Sam Groberg said the state agency had already investigated and decided not to pursue charges against his client before a second investigation was conducted, leading to the current case which was filed in September.
“She doesn’t dispute she applied for and received benefits from L&I and Social Security,” Groberg told the judge. “The dispute we have today revolves around whether or not this is work.”
Groberg said Chafin’s activities didn’t amount to work, as defined by the state agency.
His client’s position is that she wasn’t working, never worked and didn’t receive any money, he said.
“Also the fact that she didn’t disclose 100 percent fully, doesn’t rise to theft first,” Groberg said.
Chafin founded she called the House of the Rising Son in Chehalis between 2006 and 2007 and in subsequent years, managed other similar homes around the county, according to authorities. She suffered an on-the-job injury in September 2006, while working as a certified nursing assistant at Tiffin House in Centralia.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said the L&I disability payments she received were called time loss benefits, based on the idea she could not perform any work.
“Ms. Chafin was supposed to report if she worked at all, no matter how little,” Eisenberg told the judge.
Eisenberg said she started as treasurer of the House of The Rising Son but eventually took over the entire organization.
She performed landlord-like services, such as collecting rent, paying utilities and was responsible for evictions, he said.
Charging documents alleged that since 2006, Chafin wrongly received in excess of $90,000 in benefits.
Eisenberg told the judge she also negotiated a contract with two individuals to perform activities similar to those she provided when working at Tiffin House.
Eisenberg said the organization expanded during 2010, 2011 and 2012 to as many as 10 other similar homes.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler is hearing the case.
Chafin began to get a lot of attention from law enforcement and then city and county officials beginning about two years ago when residents on a rural Chehalis road complained they didn’t want multiple felons, especially registered sex offenders, living together under one roof in their neighborhood. Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield vowed to do everything he could to shut her down.
Earlier this year, she was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, for a prescription drug offense, she said was simply an oversight on her part. Prosecutors had initially charged her also with delivery of drugs and with a forgery, but dropped all but the possession of seven and half pills of morphine charge before her trial began.
At the time, she said she was entirely done with what she called her mission, having chosen not to fight the various zoning actions and finding places for the various tenants to live.
She has described the home owners of the various House of The Rising Son properties as individuals who got tired of renting to drug addicts, and said her number one house rule was no drugs or alcohol.
•••
For background, read:
• “Discord on Nix Road: Newest arrivals unwelcome” from Saturday March 3, 2012, here [2]
• “The backstory: Intelligence gathering, possible fines and code enforcement tools “not normally used” from Sunday March 4, 2012, here [3]
• “The sun sets on House of the Rising Son” from Thursday March 20, 2014, here [4]