Hammond Woman Pleads Guilty to Defrauding American Red Cross
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 26, 2010 |
NEW ORLEANS, LA—GEORGIA MOORE BROWN, age 28, a resident of Hammond, LA, pled guilty in federal court today before U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to one count of wire fraud relating to fraudulent applications she submitted to the American Red Cross, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to court documents, the Red Cross made disaster assistance money of up to $1,565 available to those affected by the hurricanes of 2005 on a one-time only basis. BROWN admitted today that applied for and received disaster assistance funds from the American Red Cross on five occasions throughout the early fall of 2005, indicating that she had not yet received any money at all from the Red Cross. In all, BROWN fraudulently obtained $4,155 from the American Red Cross.
BROWN faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment, a $250,0000 fine, restitution to the American Red Cross, and three years of supervised release. Sentencing has been scheduled for January 25, 2011.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia K. Evans.