Former Chatham Housing Director Given 30-Month Sentencing in Bid-Rigging Scheme

Nearly one year after federal investigators charged a housing director in Chatham County for fraudulent business, her sentence has been announced.

A U.S. District Court judge declared 65-year-old Joanna Johnson Davis will serve a 30-month imprisonment sentence and will have to pay restitution of more than $194,000. The Justice Department said upon its arrest of Davis in February 2023 that she took more than $200,000 through an illegal bid-rigging scheme for more than eight years while serving as the executive director of the Chatham County Housing Authority.

Davis, who is a Durham resident, pled guilty in May 2023 to one charge of conspiring to commit wire fraud that victimized the quasi-governmental agency — taking the plea deal to cut down the 19 counts listed in her initial indictment. According to investigators, she used friends and family to create bogus jobs and fake contracts, which then allowed Davis to take kickbacks using the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s funding.

“Access to decent, safe, and sanitary housing is a basic human need,” said U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston of the Middle District of North Carolina, where the case was tried. “Misappropriating funds intended to help people afford decent housing is unconscionable, and we are grateful to the agencies that investigated this conduct and helped hold this defendant accountable.”

“JoAnn Davis was entrusted to spend money intended to help improve the lives of others,” said Robert M. DeWitt, the FBI Special Agent in Charge of Davis’ case. “She abused that trust by misusing the government funding to enrich her own life and the lives of her family and friends. The FBI is committed to hold accountable anyone who commits this type of fraud.”

Evidence presented at sentencing revealed Davis awarded Chatham County Housing Authority contracts to at least 13 friends and relatives from 2016 to 2020 with not competitive bidding process. According to the Justice Department, Davis created bogus proposal to “compete” with her connections’ own fake proposal to demonstrate “reasonable” costs for the jobs — with the executive director using stolen identities and company letterheads to create the fake competitors’ bids. Additionally, little to no work would be completed from the contract, but investigators said the CCHA would still pay Davis’ friend or family member.

The Chatham County Housing Authority was founded in 1970 and is supported by the county government, but is a separate entity that does not use local tax revenue for its operations. Instead, the public housing authority operates under the umbrella of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, overseeing the county’s Housing Choice Vouchers. The organization’s Board of Directors initially said Davis would remain in her position as the investigation continued during the spring of 2023, but ultimately removed her from the role. An employee for the Chatham County Housing Authority confirmed to Chapelboro that the organization hired Norris Staton as its latest executive director in October.

The federal judge ruled Davis will be subject to supervised release for 2 years following her release from prison. The full release from the U.S. Department of Justice can be found here.

Featured photo via the Chatham County government.

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Former Chatham Housing Director Given 30-Month Sentencing in Bid-Rigging Scheme

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