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A former Washington State Bar Association president who previously earned accolades as an up-and-coming young lawyer is now facing criminal charges for allegedly misappropriating more than $25,000 from the bar group and two law firms where she worked.

Robin Haynes, who was the youngest lawyer to ever head the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) before resigning abruptly in 2017, was charged this week with five counts of theft and identity theft in Spokane Superior Court. The formal charges come after a local news report in June 2017 indicated that the Spokane sheriff's office issued a search warrant after suspicions arose that Haynes may have improperly used money from her former firms to pay for gym memberships, travel and other expenses. The charges were brought by the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

In an affidavit submitted alongside the charges against Haynes, the investigating officer on the case, detective Kenneth Scott, detailed conduct on the lawyer's part dating from 2013 to 2017. During that period, Haynes was active in the WSBA and served as a lawyer at two different Spokane-area firms—first, Witherspoon Kelley and, more recently, McNeice Wheeler.

The affidavit alleges that between October 2013 and December 2015, while Haynes worked at the Witherspoon firm, she unlawfully obtained a little more than $10,811. In one instance, she also allegedly used a Witherspoon firm credit card to book a hotel in October 2016—about 10 months after she had left that firm for McNeice Wheeler.

The detective's statement also alleges that in early 2016, Haynes made a copy of a Capital One credit card that belonged to McNeice Wheeler and used it to make unauthorized purchases amounting to a little more than $3,825. Finally, the affidavit details multiple occasions in which Haynes submitted for and received reimbursements from WSBA for expenses that she actually never incurred. Those expenses added up to just shy of $10,979, according to the affidavit.

In all, law enforcement alleges that Haynes misappropriated $25,615.59, according to court records.

Contacted by email on Friday at her current law firm, Giant Legal, Haynes referred Law.com to her defense lawyers, Kevin Curtis and Nicholas Ulrich of the Washington-based firm Winston & Cashatt.

“We are extremely disappointed that after 20 months the prosecutor has now decided to file charges. We have not received any investigative reports and will not be making any further statements until we have had the opportunity to thoroughly review and investigate the charges, including the issues surrounding the delay,” Curtis said in a statement.

Haynes' legal work has focused on employment and commercial litigation. She became president of the Washington bar group in 2016, and a statement at the time noted that she was the youngest person to hold the title and the fifth woman president. Contacted about the criminal case, the WSBA provided a statement from its current president.

“We recognize Ms. Haynes' leadership in the organization for more than seven years, including as a New and Young Lawyer at-large board member and WSBA president,” WSBA president William Pickett said in the statement. “We have cooperated with law enforcement authorities in their investigation. We cannot make further comments at this time.”