72-year-old sentenced for embezzling over $129k from public housing authority

POCATELLO — The executive director of the American Falls Housing Authority (AFHA) was sentenced Tuesday for embezzling over $129,000.

Bruce Hauber, 72, of American Falls, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye to five years of probation for felony federal program theft.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, Hauber will also be required to pay $79,022.38 in restitution, and Nye imposed eight months of home detention with location monitoring as a condition of probation.

According to court documents, Hauber waived his right to prosecution by indictment and instead accepted a plea agreement. In this agreement, he pleaded guilty to the charge in exchange for the prosecution agreeing to recommend “a sentence at the low-end of the range proposed by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.”

According to the news release, the American Falls Housing Authority (AFHA) is a federally funded public housing authority that manages public housing in American Falls. Between 2019 and 2023, Hauber was employed as the executive director and was responsible for paying bills, purchasing supplies, collecting rent, and managing bank accounts.

“Beginning in spring 2019, Hauber began to make purchases on AFHA credit cards for unauthorized personal expenses, such as meals, airplane tickets, utilities for his home, medical expenses, and purchases at retailers,” says the release. “In total, between spring 2019 through 2023, Hauber made $129,022.38 in unauthorized personal expenses.”

To hide the embezzlement, Hauber wrote fake checks to vendors and entered the checks into AFHA’s internal accounting system.

“Our office will vigorously investigate and prosecute cases involving theft of public money,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott in the release. “Bruce Hauber stole from the American taxpayer and deprived American Falls residents of vital public housing funds.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Whatcott commended the work of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, which led to the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Mazorol and Jack Haycock prosecuted the case.

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