The founder of a bogus nonprofit organization is barred from ever doing business again in the region, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Tuesday.
For years, prosecutors say Jule Huston recruited school-aged children from low-income neighborhoods in D.C. through the “Maryland Youth Club of America” to carry out phony candy sales.
The children told buyers that the money would go toward scholarships, field trips and other kid-friendly adventures. But the kids never saw a dime of the money or a reward for their labor.
“For too long, Maryland Youth Club and Huston engaged in an illegal scheme that exploited both DC children and the generosity of DMV residents,” Schwalb said in a news release.
The D.C. Office of the Attorney General partnered with prosecutors in Maryland and Virginia to investigate Huston. They discovered that between 2018 and 2022, the bogus candy sales raked in more than $850,000.
Prosecutors say Huston, a New York resident, diverted the funds to his personal bank accounts, to his mother and to a second fake nonprofit, the “Virginia Youth Club.”
Huston is also accused of destroying the nonprofit’s financial records.
“I’m glad they’ve been shut down in the DMV,” said Joshua Comstock, a Baltimore County resident who came across a 10-year-old boy selling candy.
Back in 2021, Comstock said the boy knocked on his front door. Comstock noticed that the boy was alone but bought $20 worth of candy in support of the cause.
“It seemed weird to me,” he told WTOP. “He told me to donate to a Venmo link. So, I thought that was weird.”
Afterward, Comstock said he looked into the organization, and a quick search of the group’s social media page yielded comments from other concerned buyers that Huston was exploiting children. Comstock reported it to a county council member.
Four years later, he’s glad the nonprofit is shut down, but is still concerned that another bogus youth club will pop up in another state.
“It makes me really angry,” Comstock said. “Kids already have enough to deal with without predatory child labor rackets trying to hustle away their summers.”
Huston was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine to real youth nonprofit organizations.