Former Gresham homeless outreach staffer Kevin Dahlgren pleads guilty in identity theft, official misconduct case

GRESHAM, Oregon — A former homeless services specialist for the city of Gresham who was accused in 2023 of abusing his official position and committing multiple counts of theft has pleaded guilty. On Monday, Kevin Dahlgren pleaded guilty to one felony count of first-degree theft and one felony count of aggravated identity theft, as well as one count of first-degree general misconduct, which is a misdemeanor, according to Multnomah County court documents. The 54-year-old was sentenced to five days in jail, 60 months of supervised probation and 360 hours of community service.

Dahlgren must also pay the city of Gresham $16,511 in damages in increments of $250 a month while not in custody; he may travel outside of the state and country for "employment purposes." The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office opened a criminal investigation into Dahlgren after getting a referral from Gresham police back on March 23, 2023. A week later, Dahlgren resigned from his position.



Dahlgren was arrested that fall, accused of stealing thousands of dollars and committing identity theft as a city employee. A Multnomah County Sheriff's Office investigation had centered around his use of a city-issued procurement card, an official source told The Oregonian/OregonLive . A grand jury then approved an indictment on Oct.

26, after hearing testimony from witnesses. At the time, Dahlgren had 25,000 followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, where he posted videos of homeless people, often accompanied by his own opinions on "empowering not enabling" them. He now has nearly 56,000 followers and continues to post the same brand of content, referring to himself as an independent journalist.

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