Former Eastside real-estate broker Tamara King is headed to federal prison after a Seattle jury found she quietly siphoned investor cash from a small property fund called Halcyon. On Friday, a federal judge sentenced King to four and a half years behind bars for what prosecutors say was a years-long scheme that redirected renovation money into personal accounts and high-end shopping, leaving dozens of investors holding the bag. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release and sets up a July hearing to hash out how much restitution King will ultimately owe.
Prison term and restitution timeline
According to The Seattle Times, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez handed King a 54-month prison term, followed by three years of supervised release. Prosecutors have asked the court to order King to repay more than $2 million to investors and roughly $550,000 to the IRS, and a July hearing will determine the final restitution figures.
How prosecutors say the Halcyon fund worked
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington laid out how the Halcyon fund was supposed to operate, and how it allegedly went off the rails. Prosecutors say Paul Waln raised about $2.25 million from 22 investors between 2009 and 2013, pitching Halcyon as a vehicle for West Seattle renovation projects and other real-estate deals. Investors were told to expect a 20% annual return and a ten-year lockup period, but, according to prosecutors, a large share of the money was funneled into management accounts and then shifted again into personal accounts controlled by King and Waln.
Prosecutors detail the alleged spending
Jurors heard that the transfers kept flowing from 2014 through 2018, often recorded in internal notes as “loans” that were never actually repaid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindy Chang told the jury that King “blindly drained every last dollar,” as prosecutors highlighted big-ticket buys they say were funded with investor money, including an 8.5-carat diamond ring and more than $120,000 spent on a Tesla.
Victims and the co-defendant
The financial damage was not abstract. One victim told the court the loss forced them to push back retirement by years, and prosecutors say multiple investors lost their entire stakes in the fund. King’s ex-husband and co-defendant, Paul Waln, pleaded guilty in 2025 and received a prison sentence of roughly 33 months, according to local reporting. KIRO 7 covered those earlier developments in the case.
Defense reaction and next steps
King, now living in Ohio, tried to distance herself from the scheme in a letter to the court, writing that “it is the biggest regret of my life that I was used by Paul to defraud investors,” The Seattle Times reports. Her attorney, Colleen Fitzharris, told the court the defense plans to appeal the conviction. With the prison term now set, the case shifts into its next phase: restitution calculations and the usual round of post-trial filings from both sides.
What the convictions mean under federal law
King was convicted on multiple federal counts, including wire fraud and filing false tax returns, both of which carry serious potential penalties. Wire fraud can bring up to 20 years in prison under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, as summarized by Cornell Law School. Filing false tax returns can carry up to three years under 26 U.S.C. § 7206, according to Cornell Law School.
Earlier Hoodline coverage
Hoodline previously reported on the trial and the initial convictions; see earlier Halcyon fraud trial coverage for background on the case and the fund at the center of the indictment.
