Democrat State Rep Charged With Allegedly Stealing Half Million from Charity for Mentally Ill

Democrat Pennsylvania State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the first Islamic woman elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, was charged by prosecutors this week for allegedly stealing over $500,000 from a non-profit organization that works with the mentally ill.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the charges on Wednesday, which were the result of  an investigation into her involvement with the non-profit group, Motivations Education & Consultation Associates (MECA).

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Johnson-Harrell Turned Herself In

Shapiro said in a statement that Johnson-Harrell turned herself in on Wednesday, and “is taking responsibility for her crimes, plans to plead guilty, and has agreed to resign from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives effective December 13th.”

Shapiro’s office also noted in the statement some of the items Johnson-Harrell allegedly spent the stolen money on:

• $5,500 on multiple fox fur coats,
• $16,000 on vacations to Mexico (twice), Atlanta, and Ocean City, MD,
• $2,065.95 to cover past-due Porsche payments,
• $6,976 for designer clothing,
• $3,000 for an overdue IRS tax bill,
• $3,830 in tuition for relatives,
• $3,200 to Philadelphia Gas Works,
• $4,741.20 for City of Philadelphia taxes, and
• $7,979.54 to cover a restitution payment for a 2014 criminal conviction concerning failure to pay unemployment compensation tax.

“While Johnson-Harrell was lining her pockets with MECA funds, MECA’s residents were living in squalor,” Shapiro said. “When corruption erodes the trust that is built between governmental entities and citizens, no one wins. I’ve said time and time again as Attorney General that no one is above the law, no matter their position of power. And today is no different.”

Shapiro continued, “Representative Johnson-Harrell continuously diverted Medicaid and social security disability funds from her charity to help Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities for her own personal use. She spent almost $15,000 on clothing, including online shopping sprees at Ralph Lauren and fox fur coats. She traveled to Mexico, Orlando, Georgia and Maryland on lavish trips costing $16,000 of MECA funds. She spent $2,000 on overdue car payments on her Porsche. Another $4,000 on tuition for a relative. And, she spent almost $20,000 on overdue mortgage payments.”

Shapiro also claimed Johnson-Harrell committed campaign fraud by “failing to accurately report her campaign’s receipts and expenditures” and also that she committed tax fraud when she didn’t “report her MECA spending as income and didn’t count the rent she continued to pay herself from MECA accounts on properties that no longer operated.”

Shapiro Cracking Down

Shapiro tweeted a news article touting his crackdown on corruption in Pennsylvania. With Johnson-Harrell’s arrest, his record now stands at 60 public officials his office has arrested for alleged corruption.

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The article that Shapiro shared was from an outlet called BillyPenn, which reported, “Two-thirds of the 60 arrested over the past two years were police officers or other law enforcement officials, including prosecutors, probation and corrections officers. Charges against them ranged from falsifying police paperwork to soliciting prostitutes while on the job.”

“There are also plenty of county officials who allegedly dipped into public coffers for their personal gain,” the report noted.