President, CEO of WishWarriors May Get Time Served For Probation Violations

The President and CEO of a local charity who was recently arrested after avoiding police for nearly a decade may receive time served for violating her probation, according to a county court clerk.

Brianna King, who managed the nonprofit WishWarriors, was released from custody in Orange County just before 10 p.m., Wednesday.

WishWarriors was the subject of a recent NBC 7 Investigates story this week after a Rancho Penasquitos family raised concerns about the nonprofit.

While King was running the charity, she had two active arrest warrants. In Riverside County, King was charged in 2005 with a misdemeanor for writing bad checks to two stores. King never appeared in court. Two years later, in Orange County, King pleaded guilty to felony charges for burglary and writing bad checks.

After NBC 7 Investigates asked questions about those warrants, law enforcement arrested King in Lake Arrowhead in connection with the Orange County felony charges.

In court Wednesday, King admitted she violated her probation terms. According to an Orange County court clerk, King was sentenced to 16 months in jail for the violations while other charges against her were dropped. Since King served time in jail previously for the charges at the time the crimes were committed, the court is considering letting her out of jail based on time served, the court clerk told NBC 7 Investigates.

In NBC 7 Investigates' piece on the charity WishWarriors, the local family said the nonprofit took advantage of their situation as they tried to save their 13-year-old daughter's life.

Within a week of Kasey Harvey’s Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer diagnosis late last year, her parents got a letter from one of Kasey’s schoolmates. In the letter, the girl writes her father is Robert Bjork and he works for WishWarriors. According to the letter, WishWarriors “helps raise money for families of children with cancer.”

The Harveys said instead of receiving any support, they feel their daughter was treated like a marketing tool.

The Harveys were heavily involved in a WishWarriors-hosted golf tournament at Maderas Gold Club last April. NBC 7 Investigates confirmed the fundraiser was attended by San Diego Chargers players and received thousands of dollars in donations from other participants.

At last check, none of that money has been distributed to any families. WishWarriors said in June it would release information about the money raised. That information has not been provided.

An attorney for the charity wrote in a statement the organization is "new and small" and doesn't have the resources "to handle administrative duties full-time."

Since forming in April 2014, WishWarriors has highlighted several local families with sick children and, to date, none of them have received any money.

“You shouldn’t have to go through that when you’re also trying to save your daughter’s life,” said Rodney Harvey, Kasey’s father.