Former Executive Director of South Delta Regional Housing Authority Sentenced for Embezzlement
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 02, 2012 |
OXFORD, MS—Felicia C. Adams, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, together with Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Mississippi, and Bobby Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General in New Orleans, announces:
Ann Jefferson, 58, of Leland, former executive director of the South Delta Regional Housing Authority, has been sentenced by United States Senior District Judge Glen Davidson, in Aberdeen, Mississippi, following her conviction this spring on two counts of embezzlement, two counts of obstruction of justice, and three counts of witness intimidation.
Judge Davidson ordered Jefferson to serve 32 months in prison. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $41,178.90.
“The attainment of safe and affordable housing is a basic tenet of the American dream,” said Felicia C. Adams, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi. “Ms. Jefferson exploited low income families who sought to secure their piece of this dream for her own financial gain. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will act aggressively to ensure that individuals who engage in illegal conduct will be brought to justice.”
Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, stated: “As the executive director of the South Delta Regional Housing Authority, it was Ann Jefferson’s responsibility to assist low income families in obtaining safe, affordable housing. Jefferson abrogated that responsibility by using the power and authority entrusted to her to enrich herself and to exploit, rather than help, those who were most in need. I appreciate the investigators and prosecutors whose efforts led to the sentence rendered today. I’d like to personally recognize and thank the witnesses who came forward, at great personal risk, to expose the crimes committed by Jefferson.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert H. Norman and Susan S. Bradley