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A former University of Hawaii Foundation employee was sentenced to probation for using scholarship money to pay off a gambling debt.
A federal judge sentenced Dodge Watson, 34, to three years’ probation Monday for forging the signatures of other foundation employees to get approval for a $2,000 scholarship check made payable to his bookie.
Watson pleaded guilty to identity theft in June.
U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright also fined Watson $2,000 and ordered him to perform 150 hours of community service. Watson has already paid back the money.
Watson worked for the foundation for eight years and was a scholarship administrator in December 2012 when he forged the signatures.
The UH Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that is the central fundraising organization for the UH system.
Prosecutor Larry Butrick identified Watson’s bookie as former Kauai police commissioner Bradley Chiba.
Chiba, 37, pleaded guilty in June to federal charges of owning and running an illegal gambling business and failing to report and pay taxes on $39,779 that he earned in 2012 from the business. He faces sentencing next month.
He was a sitting member of the Kauai County Police Commission when the FBI raided his Lihue home and bank account in February. Chiba resigned later that month.
