Ex-NAACP chief who posed as black pleads not guilty to fraud in Spokane

Rachel Dolezal is pictured March 20, 2017, with her son, Langston, at the bureau of The Associated Press in Spokane, Wash. 

SPOKANE, Wash. — A former NAACP leader in Washington state whose life unraveled after she was exposed as a white woman pretending to be black has pleaded not guilty to welfare fraud.

Nkechi (en-Ke'-chi) Diallo, formerly known as Rachel Dolezal, made a brief appearance in court Wednesday in Spokane, Washington.

She is charged with welfare fraud and false verification for public assistance.

Superior Court Judge James Triplet ordered that she remain free on her own recognizance and set her trial date for Sept. 10. Diallo did not talk to reporters after the brief hearing.