The head of a Black Lives Matter group in Oklahoma City faces 25 counts of wire fraud and money laundering based on a federal grand jury indictment, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Authorities said Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, who served as executive director of the group since at least 2016, embezzled funds for her own benefit. She deposited at least several million dollars into personal accounts rather than into the organization’s accounts, they said.
The BLM organization, which was not registered as tax exempt, accepted charitable donations through its affiliation with the Alliance for Global Justice, based in Arizona.
The indictment alleges that from June 2020 to October 2025, Dickerson moved “at least $3.15 million in returned bail checks into her personal accounts, rather than into BLMOKC’s accounts.” She spent the money on items including travel to Jamaica, food and groceries for her family, a personal vehicle, and several properties, according to the indictment.
“On December 3, 2025, a federal Grand Jury returned a 25-count Indictment, charging Dickerson with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering,” Robert J. Troester, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, said in a statement.
“For each count of wire fraud, Dickerson faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. For each count of money laundering, Dickerson faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transaction,” the statement said.
Court records did not indicate whether Dickerson had an attorney. She did not immediately respond to messages left at her listed phone number.
Since President Donald Trump’s return to office, the Justice Department has increasingly scrutinized leaders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and other Black-led social justice organizations regarding allegations of possible financial misconduct and misused funds raised around the 2020 racial justice protests.
The Trump administration has waged a campaign to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion efforts — including those launched in response to George Floyd’s death — and the Justice Department has touted its plans to abandon efforts to reshape law enforcement in cities where high-profile killings by officers, including of Floyd, ignited widespread outrage.
This year, the Justice Department issued subpoenas as part of a broader investigation into how other entities associated with the Black Lives Matter movement spent donor funds, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closely held details of the investigation.
That inquiry, run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, focused on spending by the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, one of the largest and most well-funded organizations within the broader Black Lives Matter movement.
The foundation had drawn scrutiny from critics after it used donor funds to purchase a $6 million home in 2020. The group maintained at the time the house was bought as a space for Black people “to share their gifts with the world and hone their craft as they see fit.”
After news of the subpoenas was first reported by the Associated Press this fall, a spokesperson for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation insisted that the foundation “is not a target of any federal criminal investigation” in a statement to The Washington Post.
“We remain committed to full transparency, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of resources dedicated to building a better future for Black communities,” the foundation said in the statement.
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