Box braider extraordinaire Rachel Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo two years ago since Wakanda Salute was apparently taken, will avoid going to trial on welfare fraud charges.
The Spokesman-Review reports that for the low, low cost of $8,847 and some community service hours, she’ll be free to continue butchering the Electric Slide at the Bronner Bros. family reunion.
Rachel Dolezal, the former Spokane NAACP president who captured the national spotlight when she was outed as a white woman in 2015, has agreed to pay nearly $9,000 in restitution and complete 120 hours of community service to avoid going to trial on charges of welfare fraud.
Dolezal, who changed her name to Nkechi Diallo two years ago, was charged with two felonies in May.
Investigators alleged she had failed to report tens of thousands of dollars in income from her memoir, “In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World,” in order to collect $8,847 in food and child care assistance from the state Department of Social and Health Services.
Transracial Rachel entered the diversion agreement March 25 in Spokane County Superior Court. Should she fail to complete any part of the program, including drug and alcohol tests or her mandatory community service hours, the white privilege she relinquished will expire and she could still face trial on the original charges.
“I think that this is a fair resolution of the case under circumstances,” her attorney, Bevan Maxey, said Thursday, prior to giving Rachel five on the black hand side. “I don’t think it was Ms. Diallo’s intent to defraud anyone. I think this will allow her to move forward in her life. She’s a very intelligent and creative woman and I hope that she can put this behind her.”