FILE - In this March 20, 2017, file photo, Rachel Dolezal poses for a photo with her son, Langston, at the bureau of The Associated Press in Spokane, Wash. Dolezal, a former NAACP leader in Washington... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this March 20, 2017, file photo, Rachel Dolezal poses for a photo with her son, Langston, at the bureau of The Associated Press in Spokane, Wash. Dolezal, a former NAACP leader in Washington... (Associated Press) 
 
 SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former NAACP leader in Washington state whose life unraveled after she was exposed as a white woman pretending to be black has been charged with welfare fraud. 
 
 Rachel Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, was charged this week with theft by welfare fraud, perjury and false verification for public assistance, Spokane news station KHQ-TV reported Thursday. 
 
 She illegally received $8,747 in food assistance and $100 in child care assistance from August 2015 through November 2017, court documents said. 
 
 An investigation started in March 2017 when a Washington state investigator received information that Diallo had written a book. The investigator reviewed Diallo's records and found that she had been reporting her income as usually less than $500 per month, court documents said. 
 
 A subpoena for her self-employment records, which included copies of her bank statements, showed Diallo had deposited nearly $84,000 into her bank account between August 2015 and September 2017, without reporting the majority of it to the Department of Social and Health Services. 
 
 The money came from authoring her memoir, "In Full Color," speaking engagements, soap making, doll making, and the sale of her art, according to the case file. 
 
 Diallo did report a "change of circumstance" to the state agency, saying she did a one-time job in October 2017 worth $20,000, court documents said. 
 
 The former civil rights activist told investigators she "fully disclosed her information" and declined to answer further questions, the documents said. 
 
 She has said previously that she grew up near Troy, Montana, with religious parents and that she began to change her perspective as a teenager, after her parents adopted four black children. She decided to become publicly black years later, after a divorce. 
 
 The ruse worked for years until 2015, when her parents, with whom she has long feuded, told reporters that their daughter was white but was presenting herself as a black activist in the Spokane region. 
 
 The story became an international sensation, and she was fired as head of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP and kicked off a police ombudsman commission. She also lost her job teaching African studies at Eastern Washington University. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Information from: KHQ-TV, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3082888/ ||||| Former Spokane Chapter NAACP President Rachel Dolezal is now facing legal trouble that could land her behind bars. KHQ has confirmed that Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, is accused of 1st Degree Theft by Welfare Fraud, Perjury in the 2nd Degree, and False Verification for Public Assistance. Her potential punishment under RCW 74.08.331 could include up to 15 years in prison. 
 
 Because Dolezal changed her name, we'll be referring to her as Nkechi Diallo. According to court documents, Diallo illegally received $8,747 in food assistance, and illegally received $100 in childcare assistance. Total restitution, according to the documents, is $8,847, allegedly stolen from August 2015 through November 2017. 
 
 READ IT: Newly released court documents in Nkechi A. Diallo theft case 
 
 The investigation into Diallo's alleged theft started in March 2017 when a DSHS Office of Fraud and Accountability investigator received information that Diallo had written a book that got published. The investigator said he'd heard Diallo say she was getting public assistance, but also knew that a typical publishing contract included payments of $10,000 to $20,000. 
 
 Previous Coverage: Parents of Spokane NAACP President Rachel Dolezal claim she's not black 
 
 The investigator conducted a review of Diallo's records and found she'd been reporting her income was usually less than $500 per month, in child support payments. At one point when asked as to how she was paying her bills, she reported, "Barely! With help from friends and gifts." 
 
 However, a subpoena for her self-employment records, which included copies of her bank statements from 2015 to present, tells a different story. The bank records, court documents say, showed Diallo had deposited about $83,924 into her bank account in several monthly installments between August 2015 and September 2017, without reporting the income to the Department of Social and Health Services. The money, according to the case file, had come from authoring her book, 'In Full Color,' speaking engagements, soap making, doll making, and the sale of her art. 
 
 RELATED: Rachel Dolezal steps down as President of Spokane NAACP 
 
 During the course of the investigation, Diallo did report a "change of circumstance" to the Department of Social and Health Services, saying she did a one-time job in October of 2017 worth $20,000, and Diallo voluntarily came in for an interview with fraud investigators last month. But when questioned about possible discrepancies in her income reporting, Diallo stated she "fully disclosed her information and asked, 'what discrepancies?". Diallo then told the investigator that she "did not have to answer" any more questions, since she had not waived her Miranda rights, which ended the interview. 
 
 RELATED: Baltimore Book Festival boots Rachel Dolezal after backlash 
 
 According to the court documents, "The state of Washington seeks prosecution and restitution in this matter. In addition, the Department requests Nkechi Diallo be disqualified from receiving Food Assistance for at least a 12 month period for breaking a Food Assistance rule on purpose. This is known as an Intentional Program Violation." 
 
 KHQ's Peter Maxwell went to Diallo's house to ask her about these charges on Thursday. Hear her response tonight at 5. 
 
 
 
 Related coverage: 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/35550953/baltimore-book-festival-boots-rachel-dolezal-after-backlash 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29327720/former-student-reflects-on-rachel-dolezals-past 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/33332407/former-naacp-leader-rachel-dolezal-tapped-for-mlk-day-event 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29317969/rachel-dolezals-brother-speaks-out 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29348284/rachel-dolezal-i-will-not-resign 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29337584/rachel-dolezal-and-the-word-transracial 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29311298/rachel-dolezal-releases-statement-to-naacp-members 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29356286/city-council-votes-rachel-dolezal-off-ombudsman-commission 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29344766/investigation-finds-misconduct-among-three-ombudsman-commissioners-including-rachel-dolezal 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29322279/rachel-dolezal-steps-down-as-president-of-spokane-naacp 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29310398/spokane-city-council-evaluating-facts-in-rachel-dolezal-investigation 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29308121/timeline-rachel-dolezal-in-the-news-over-the-years 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29309472/spokane-police-investigation-into-rachel-dolezal-hate-mail-now-closed 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29331458/rachel-dolezal-tells-matt-lauer-she-has-identified-as-black-since-the-age-of-5 
 
 http://www.khq.com/story/29325564/rachel-dolezal-sued-howard-university-in-2002-claimed-african-americans-were-favored ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
– Rachel Dolezal has been misrepresenting her income, according to investigators in Washington state. The former NAACP chapter leader—who was born a white woman but describes herself as "unapologetically black"—has been charged with welfare fraud and could get up to 15 years in prison if convicted, the New York Daily News reports. Dolezal, who changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, is also accused of perjury and false verification for public assistance, reports the AP. Authorities say she illegally received $8,747 in food assistance and $100 in child care assistance between 2015 and 2017. Dolezal came to the attention of investigators in 2017 when they learned that she had published a memoir but was still reporting income of only $500 a month, reports KHQ. According to court documents, investigators discovered that she had deposited $83,924 into her bank account between 2015 and 2017 without declaring it to state authorities. The documents state that the money came from memoir In Full Color, speaking engagements, soap and doll making, and the sale of art. Dolezal—who stepped down from the Spokane chapter of the NAACP and lost her job teaching African studies after her background was exposed in 2015—is due in court next month, the Washington Post reports.