The State - News from Oct. 5, 1988

The wife of a high-ranking California Community Colleges official was arrested on a grand theft charge in the alleged embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the community college system, authorities said. Pamela McNary Howard, 41, of Sacramento was held in Sacramento County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. Her husband, Robert F. Howard, 42, acting dean of student services and special programs for the two-year college system, was arrested last week on charges of grand theft and conflict of interest. State Department of Justice investigators accused the Howards of setting up a phony consulting firm, McNary & McNary, that received thousands of dollars in monthly payments authorized by Robert Howard for work it did not perform. Investigators originally alleged about $400,000 was embezzled, but later set the total closer to $1 million. Robert Howard oversaw programs for immigrants, the disabled and welfare recipients for the 106-college system.