The former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine has been sentenced to eight months in prison for stealing more than $100,000 in contributions to the nonprofit.
Raafat Dajani (dah-JAHN'-ee) of Arlington, Va., admitted he would intercept donation checks and deposit them in a bank account he secretly set up. He would forge his boss' signature on thank you letters.
The scheme went on from 2004 to 2008, when the group's president confronted Dajani. He admitted his crime and immediately began paying back the $107,520 he took, with $14,000 left as of Wednesday.
His attorneys argued for probation because of his cooperation and remorse. Dajani, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen born in Kuwait and raised in Lebanon, cried in court as he asked for a second chance.
But U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the length and sophistication of the crime warranted time at a minimum security prison.
