The Sentencing of Tara Koch

Tara Koch, seen in Wasco County Circuit Court before Judge Marion Weatherford during her sentencing on Thursday, April 10.

By Tom Peterson

The Dalles, Ore., April 11, 2025 — It didn’t have to be this way.

It could have been such a success story.

Those were the thoughts of one courtroom witness after hearing the sentencing of Tara Koch, on Thursday, April 10 before Circuit Court Judge Marion Weatherford.

Koch was sentenced to four years in prison and two years post-prison supervision. She is required to report to NORCOR jail in two weeks. She was released to put her 89-year-old mother's medical affairs in order.

Haven is set to receive $51,757 immediately as a result of the sentencing. Investigators seized $26,757.65 from Koch’s personal bank account and her $25,000 in bail is also being put toward payment on the $178,511 in court-ordered restitution.

Some 50 plus people sat in the courtroom Thursday listening to 7 hours of testimony. The room included Koch’s family and friends, Haven employees and The Dalles Police Chief Tom Worthy and former chief Pat Ashmore, Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill, District Attorneys from Hood River and Wasco County. Circuit Court Judge John Wolf was also seen in the hearing sitting with wife Leslie Wolf, former Haven Board President and 21-year child abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence prosecutor in Wasco County.

Most were there to break the blister of anger and public outrage at the near public dismantling of Haven, a shelter and program for victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Haven came near to folding as Koch’s thefts curtailed donations, killed grants, destroyed county relationships, and ultimately hobbled a program to the point it could no longer protect local abuse victims from their abusers.

Emotions were on display - anger, despair, disbelief.

Tara Koch took the leadership role at Haven in 2008 and served for over 13 years taking the small domestic shelter and abuse hotline service with three employees to a program with 21 employees with a budget of more than $1 million annually, she said.

Koch told the judge that she leaned into grant writing, developing marketing materials and building the program.

She was adept at fundraising, grant writing, and the results of her hard work were lauded and affirmed as women and children were able to escape physical and mental abuse through Haven’s shelter and programs that reached into Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam and Wheeler counties.

She had the full support of her board of directors.

But in her final years, Haven staff also described Koch as “toxic” and “controlling”, and creating an environment of “chaos” in the work place.

It all unraveled On August 20, 2021, when Haven Board Chair, Leslie Wolf, received a letter from the Oregon Department of Revenue regarding a Haven tax debt of over $100,000.00. According to the letter, not only was Haven responsible for this debt, but Wolf was personally responsible, too, court records state.

After a year of investigation, July 7, 2022 Koch was arrested on 26 counts including theft, identity theft and forgery.

On Thursday, Koch spoke last. She told the judge she “heard every word today… I hear frustration, disappointment and anger.”

She began to cry.

“Pain from the loss and concern at Haven. It’s a lot to take in. I am angry at myself… profoundly sorry… for my actions. I was trusted with this amazing organization and I abused that trust… that’s something I face everyday.”

Her defense Attorney Jody Vaughn and Koch friends said the 63-year-old had essentially been homeless in the years since her indictment, couch surfing with friends, unable to get a job. She had only recently found part-time work and rented a rundown apartment, while still relying on friends and family for money to make ends meet.

Those that showed up in Koch’s support testified that Koch was leading a “miserable” life since her aggravated thefts were discovered. They also pointed to her history of abuse as a child and as an adult.

Koch read from a multi-page written statement to the judge describing her career at Haven and repeatedly said she worked 60 to 70 hours per week, even when her mental and physical health kept her from sleeping. She pointed out numerous times she did not have the support she needed to administrate Haven and also lacked support from the Haven Board.

She said when COVID hit she was on the verge of breakdown and was asking for help repeatedly and “getting very little”, noting she recruited an accountant to join the board who told her it was imperative to get the nonprofits federal and state tax returns completed.

“Why did I stay? I wish I could answer that,” she told the judge. “I wish I had been a better person and set boundaries.”

“I’ve never been in trouble with the law. I am asking for probation, community service and repaying restitution,” she said. “I am asking for mercy.”

Prior to her plea multiple letters were read and people testified to the fact that Koch’s actions had affected them and their ability to help people who were under the thumb of an abuser.

Current Haven Director Marcelene Kukal Manning told the court she took over after Koch was put on leave.

It was “chaos.”

“Like many folks that do this work, I am a survivor of domestic violence. Agencies like HAVEN are often the only avenue for women like me to reach safety,” Manning told the court. “By stealing from HAVEN, Tara stole the safety from countless survivors and their children. We will never know how many survivors were further victimized by Tara Koch…

When I stepped into the Interim Executive Director position in October 2021, I was met with utter chaos.

Out of 20 employees only 7 remained.

Staff were not laid off, they resigned and found other employment. 3 advocates, 1 prevention staff, a counselor, a crisis line screener, and myself were all that remained. By December we had dropped to 4. This great exodus was caused by the lack of financial stability of the agency. Neither the Board nor myself could guarantee that Haven doors would remain open for more than a few days at a time. All of our funding streams were frozen and we were only able to operate off of the balance in our bank account.

We found that we were in debt to the IRS for more than $300,000 and $100,000 to the State of Oregon for income related taxes that were never paid, we were at risk of having our bank accounts frozen and losing what little money we had. We had lost our 501 c 3 status as Tara neglected to file 990’s to the IRS for 3 years. We were in breach of contract with all of our funders with some threatening to pull the contracts. We could not receive any state or federal funds until we reinstated our 501 c 3 status with the IRS.”

Victims advocates outside of Haven were equally impacted.

“I could call you, Tara, directly and within minutes had an answer or we were collaborating together to find solutions. It was a great working relationship between programs and passionate advocates. I will not take that away from you,” said April Aamodt, Gilliam County Victim’s Assistant Director.

“That being said somewhere along the lines you forgot to do what we as advocates ask the people we work with everyday to do….you didn’t ask for help,” she told Koch. “You took matters in your own hands. You chose to betray all the people, employees, board members, CVSSD, survivors/clients, community partners, tax payers and you decided to charge on a credit card or write a check for your own personal gain at the expense of others. You did that!”

Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill called it a “devastated trail of trust”.

“Ms. Koch’s actions dismantled a vital safety net,” he testified, noting it precipitated the closing of a safe house and forced victims of abuse “back into the hands of their abusers.”

In a sentencing memorandum to the Judge, Sr. Assistant Attorney General Tobias Tingleaf stated the Haven Board met with Koch on September 2, 2021, and placed her on paid leave. Despite knowing that her fraud had been discovered and being placed on paid leave, Koch still took a vacation to Camano Island, Washington on September 9 through 13, 2021, a trip paid for by Haven. The defendant apparently took guests, as the reservation was for six adults and one child. This trip was not related to any Haven business purpose.

Haven intended to terminate the defendant’s employment on October 2, 2021, but she resigned on September 28, 2021, Tingleaf wrote. The defendant submitted a 35-page document as part of her resignation. The first page is a short, two paragraph, resignation letter. The next three pages appear to be a letter that the defendant drafted with some sort of belief that she would be allowed to remain in her position while a new executive director was hired. It contains suggestions on how to transition and communicate with employees and community members. It is delusional.

Finally, the remaining 31 pages is some sort of handbook created by the defendant filled full of excuses, accusations, and the defendant’s suggestions to the board on how Haven should be run.

The 35 pages are both perplexing and intriguing, shedding light on the lack of acceptance of responsibility for her criminal acts and her conscious disregard of the detrimental impacts of her crimes.

The investigation showed that the defendant had spent Haven funds on her household utilities, online shopping, house décor, home remodeling, wine, auto repairs, lawn maintenance, and more. It seems anytime the defendant thought she could get away with stealing from Haven, she would steal.

While Tingleaf was requesting an 8-year prison sentence for Koch, her attorney Jody Vaughn asked for a downward departure of a sentence of probation with no prison time.

Vaughn maintained there was no rehabilitative purpose to putting Koch in prison and put Debbie (Gorski) Alltort on the stand as a authority on women who embezzle.

Alltort was convicted in 2007 of stealing $94,000 while working for the Oregon State Fair and Exposition Center.

She was sentenced to 3 years in prison. She told the court she entered a cognitive treatment program that helped her uncover the truth about why she stole the money.

Like Koch, she said she worked 60 to 70 hours a week, and her work paid off and it made her feel like a “queen” but at the same time she “checked out and let go of all the things that were at the core of who I was.”

She said that it was pain, such as that Koch endured as a child and adult, that created the pain in her life which led to the “addictive behavior” of stealing.

“I did not need the money,” she said, later pointing out that the addiction or theft gave a sense of being “powerful”.

Alltort testified that in her life after prison she had worked with 300 to 400 women who were caught embezzling and the same patterns were present in them - they were all women mostly in their 40s and 50s and the pain in their past lives turned into the addictive behavior of stealing money.

“When I met Tara, I was looking in a mirror,” she said. “I could see the stress, responsibility of her life outside of work all contributed to losing herself and her life.”

Alltrot said Koch had little to no chance of getting help if she went to prison. In her testimony she said of the 1,400 women in Coffee Creek prison on convictions of embezzlement, only 22 are receiving cognitive help.

Koch’s friend Kevin Ryan, a local Psychotherapist, said Alltrot’s statement was credible. He said Koch was a victim of child abuse and mental abuse and was at an emotional disadvantage. “She’s a shame-based person.”

(An individual who has experienced or internalizes shame, often stemming from negative self-evaluation may engage in behaviors such as self-sabotage to manage or mask these feelings according to theories of Dr. Brené Brown, a Texan with a Doctorate in Philosophy.)

A retired local banker and friend of Koch’s also told the judge that she was “appalled at the level of hypocrisy in the court today.”

She said Haven and its Board lacked the internal controls to prevent embezzlement and the checks and balances are used unilaterally in professional businesses such as banks.

“The golden rule is do not give employees the opportunity to embezzle,” she said.

In his final remarks to the judge, Prosecutor Tingleaf stated that the crime was analogous to a drunken driver causing a deadly crash.

“They don’t get probation or a get-out-of-jail-free card,” he said, noting the continued comments that the thefts were somehow the fault of the Haven Board were “victim blaming and it continues throughout… I did not hear it — I take full responsibility,” he said.

“Haven will never be made whole. The restitution is the tip of the iceberg,” he finished.

Judge Weatherford then took a 15 minute pause and held counsel with the defense and prosecution in his chambers before he pronounced Koch’s sentence.

Weatherford made statements toward his impartiality in the case. He said he had no prior knowledge of the case before his assignment and knew not of the defendant nor the Haven Board and did not run in social circles within The Dalles community. He said he was aware of a Gilliam County Case where Haven helped in creating a good outcome for a victim, and that was the breadth of his knowledge concerning Haven.

Wasco County Circuit Court Judge Marion Weatherford explains his sentence as defendent Tara Koch looks on from the defense table on Thursday, April 10.

“I brought more goodwill than bias,” he stated.

“I understand the pressures are informed by the past,” he said, “where abuses to you made services at Haven more important. I don’t know what the soft landing in this case is.”

But he said the law was clear in regard to sentencing guide lines for repetitive property crimes, as legislators put it into statute in 2009.

He said he found no facts supporting an upward or downward departure in the case, and so settled on making a mandated sentence under the guidelines.

However, Weatherford did retain discretion on whether to make the sentences for theft either concurrent or consecutive - meaning he could either stack them up to 133 months or have them served all at once with a minimum of 24 months.

He then offered another theory for Koch’s mental breakdown. He said Koch experienced “overwhelming stress” as she knew there was no way to hide the overdue taxes.

“Some day the taxes had to be paid,” he said. “The crimes were going to be discovered. A day of reckoning was coming… Your stress was knowing what you did would come to light.”

Judge Weatherford said the 37-page manifesto that Koch wrote to the Haven Board at the time of her resignation spoke volumes, providing a perspective on what Koch did and her ownership of it.

“It bias’ the victim in your crime,” he said. “That’s a new level.”

“I’m not outraged but I impose a sentence that is fair and appropriate.”

On two counts of first degree aggravated theft, Koch was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of 24 months each for a total four- year prison term. The remaining 6 charges will be served concurrently. Koch must also complete 2 years of post-prison supervision and repay all restitution.

Haven Director Manning said they were satisfied with the sentence from Judge Weatherford.

“It will not make HAVEN whole again.  But it is the beginning of a new chapter for HAVEN.  The HAVEN team looks forward to moving on and healing with our community.  We recognize that trust is easily broken and difficult to rebuild.  We have worked tirelessly over the last 3.5 years to keep the doors open and put HAVEN back together. We are committed to building an agency that our community can trust. A big thank you to all that showed up for HAVEN yesterday, in person and online.  It gives me hope for HAVEN's future.”