June 22, 1999

John Gillie; The News Tribune

The former spouse of a prominent Pierce County deputy prosecutor was charged with 85 counts of theft Monday in connection with a scheme that netted him nearly $600,000 from a local medical clinic.

King County deputy prosecutor Scott Peterson claimed Francis Corey-Boulet wrote a total of 371 unauthorized checks totaling $598,580 on the account of a Tacoma clinic and the company that managed it.

Corey-Boulet is the former husband of Pierce County deputy prosecutor Barbara Corey-Boulet. The couple divorced in April in Franklin County Superior Court in the Tri-Cities area. Pierce County Prosecutor John Ladenburg referred the investigation to King County because of conflicts of interest.

Barbara Corey-Boulet headed the prosecutor's special assault unit for eight years. She now heads the prosecutor's appeals unit and has been lead prosecutor in numerous high-profile murder cases. Most recently she successfully prosecuted Guy Rasmussen in the 1996 murder and rape of 9-year-old Cynthia Allinger.

Barbara Corey-Boulet said she had no involvement in her ex-husband's actions that led to the theft charges.

"All I have to say is I am no longer married to him. I obviously had no knowledge of it and no involvement whatsoever in it. I'm certainly not being charged," she said.

"I work in the system, and I honor the criminal justice system and issues of personal integrity very highly. I never, ever would be involved in anything of this nature."

The 60 first-degree theft and 25 second-degree theft charges filed Monday concern 85 checks written since June 20, 1996. A 3-year statute of limitations bars charges concerning checks written before that date. Prosecutors say Francis Corey-Boulet wrote the 371 unauthorized checks between April 1990 and March 1998.

William Michelman, the defendant's Tacoma attorney, said his client will plead not guilty at his June 29 arraignment.

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