A former chief financial officer of a Dallas mental-health nonprofit will spend five years in federal prison after admitting he stole $2,109,786.56 from the organization over about seven years.
U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced Jeffrey Scott Keehn, 55, of Imperial Beach, California, to 60 months in prison on August 26, followed by three years of supervised release. Kinkeade also ordered Keehn to pay $2,109,786.56 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced Friday.
The case is United States v. Keehn, No. 3:24-cr-00341-K, in the Northern District of Texas’ Dallas Division.
How Keehn hid the theft
Keehn pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors said he accessed the charity’s checkbook without authorization, forged signatures on checks and deposited the money into personal accounts. He then altered QuickBooks entries and misstated the nonprofit’s available cash to hide the theft.
The court accepted Keehn’s guilty plea in August 2025 after he signed a plea agreement and factual resume admitting the conduct. The agreement required him to preserve assets, cooperate with liquidation and surrender specified property for forfeiture.
Prosecutors said the government seized approximately $800,000 in assets through forfeiture proceedings. The property included multiple financial accounts, precious metals, a 2022 Chevrolet Traverse and $225,655.41 in equity from an Oceanside, California, condominium.
The plea agreement said Keehn would make a cash payment for the condo equity instead of forfeiting the property.
What the record does not show
The plea papers treat forfeiture and restitution as separate obligations. The publicly available documents do not establish that the nonprofit has received the seized assets or that the proceeds have reduced Keehn’s restitution balance.
Two Child and Family Guidance Center representatives told the court at sentencing that the theft caused financial harm and imposed an operational burden, including extensive forensic audits and the work of rebuilding after years of concealed losses, according to prosecutors.
“Stealing from a charity that serves families in crisis is unconscionable,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement.
The nonprofit says it provides mental-health services across North Texas and does not turn away people based on their ability to pay. The FBI’s Dallas Field Office investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu prosecuted it.
Provided by Dallas Express
