Laplace Woman Pleads Guilty to Defrauding American Red Cross
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 30, 2009 |
DEFINEY L. BROOKS, 39, a resident of Laplace, LA, pled guilty in federal court yesterday before U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle to one-count of mail fraud related to fraudulent applications for financial assistance that she submitted to the American Red Cross between September 2005 and October 2005, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to court documents, BROOKS applied for and received disaster assistance funds from the American Red Cross seven times. The Red Cross made disaster assistance money of up to $1565 available to those affected by the hurricanes of 2005 on a one-time only basis. BROOKS repeatedly applied for these funds throughout the early fall of 2005, indicating on several occasions that she had not received any money from the Red Cross. In all, BROOKS fraudulently obtained $8,790 from the American Red Cross.
BROOKS faces a possible maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years and is subject to a $250,0000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July 29, 2009.
The case was investigated by the U. S. Postal Inspection Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U. S. Attorney Sharan E. Lieberman.