Before a woman was released from a halfway house she began plans to commit fraud - fraud being the same crime she had just been incarcerated for - as reported by the Press-Register out of Mobile, Alabama.
L.W. allegedly planned and executed the largest personal fraud against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as "FEMA", after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Prosecutors now state that L.W. faxed documents on February 11 - while living at a halfway house - looking to get a loan in someone else's name.
Per Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Costello, the fax machine was located from L.W.'s work-release job in a Taco Bell in Spanish Fort and sent to Alabama Power.
L.W., 37, told U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade that she planned on paying for the appliances - worth $3,000 - that she had purchased on someone else's line of credit.
Judge Granade said, "Frankly, Ms. Williams, I don't believe your representations. The record from this court and others is that you are a con person and a fraudster. ... You have begun down a path from which there is no going back unless you decide to change."
Judge Granade sentenced L.W. to the maximum penalty - two more years in prison. She also denied the request made by L.W.'s defense that the sentence be carried out concurrently with another 10-year sentence.
Assistant Federal Defender Fred Tiemann said that a judge in Clarke County Circuit Court handed down the 10-year sentence, for the same type of fraudulent conduct.
On February 4, L.W. allegedly purchased a washer, dryer, computer and television set from Alabama Power. The items were reclaimed, due to a tip off to Alabama Power, on March 4.
L.W. claimed that the name she used, T.B., belonged to a woman she knew from prison. She said that woman had given her permission to use her name to buy appliances.
L.W. stated that she did it because she was unable to gain credit under her own name.
Tiemann said, "I wanted the court to be aware that the state is punishing her for the underlying conduct."
Costello argued that the two-year maximum was warranted as L.W. had a criminal record that began when she was 17. He also claimed that the only time L.W. was employed was for two months in 1995.
Costello said, "It's the only appropriate sentence in this case. Frankly, it's probably too little. She had no intention of paying the money back."
For the fraud charges stemming from Hurricane Katrina, L.W. pleaded guilty in submitting 28 false applications requesting assistance in 2006. FEMA gave her a total of $277,377 for the 20 applications that they approved.
In 2007 she was sentenced to 6 years and three months in prison, ordered to pay back $267,377, surrender four cars, real estate, televisions and electronics equipment.
If you are facing your first, or your latest, criminal charge you must contact a criminal defense attorney for help. Mounting your solid defense is critical.
