July 28, 2014

Ohio Woman Sentenced in Huntington for Embezzling Public Housing Funds

HUNTINGTON, WV—United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Connie Lynn Whitley, 51, of Proctorville, Ohio, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment by Judge Robert C. Chambers in Huntington, West Virginia. Whitley worked for Uptowner Inns as the manager for their United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) apartments and checking accounts. The money in these accounts was to be used by the Uptowner Inns to pay a portion of the rent for its HUD apartments for qualifying tenants. Over the course of four years, Whitley stole more than $150,000 in federal funds from the HUD accounts and deposited the money into her personal checking account. She concealed the fraud by entering false information into the check ledger indicating that the money was spent on maintenance and other items for the apartments. Whitley previously pleaded guilty to embezzling money from an organization receiving federal funds in April of 2014.

The investigation was conducted by the West Virginia State Police, the United States Department for Housing and Urban Development, and with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.