The Soulvine
By: Betty Pleasant
OH, MY GOD! —We all know that Leon Jenkins resigned last year from his long-time post as president of the Los Angeles NAACP. But did you know that Vacie Thomas, the equally long-time executive assistant and public face of the L.A. NAACP, has been missing-in-action for the past six months and the present NAACP officials have been lying to the public about Thomas’ whereabouts, claiming that she’s on various kinds of leaves?
Well, the truth is that 62-year-old Vacie Thomas is in state prison for stealing money and other assets from elderly black people!!
According to District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office, Thomas was sentenced on June 4, 2014 to three years in prison after pleading no contest to stealing money and other assets from an elderly couple and a nonagenarian (that would be someone aged 90 to 99).
The DA said Thomas pleaded no contest to two counts of theft from an elder and admitted an allegation that she committed two felonies through fraud or embezzlement with the cumulative loss of more than $100,000.
Deputy District Attorney Tina Hooks, who works in the DA’s Elder Abuse Section, said Thomas befriended Ola and Clyde Griffith while working as an executive assistant at the NAACP’s Los Angeles office and added her name as joint tenant to their home, worth $1 million. “She also forged numerous checks from the couple’s account to pay off her personal loans and credit card bills, with the losses totaling more than $180,000,” Hooks said.
The prosecutor added that Thomas also stole about $13,000 from 97-year-old Trandailer Brewer between 2008 and 2011.
In addition to sentencing Thomas to three years in state prison last June, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Dabney ordered Thomas to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.
So, the local NAACP officials were correct in telling people Thomas was out of the office on various types of leave, but they just omitted a crucial detail as to the exact kind of leave she’s on. But then, I can understand that they feel the need to protect themselves from public censure because Thomas has inflicted painful black eyes on all of them and seriously sullied the reputation of black folks’ oldest and finest civil rights organization.
But I’m in the news business and I must tell it — good or bad.
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