Hammond Woman Sentenced for Defrauding American Red Cross
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 27, 2011 |
PORSHA HARRISON, age 23, a resident of Hammond, Louisiana, was sentenced today in federal court by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance to serve three years of active probation. HARRISON was also ordered to make full restitution to the American Red Cross in the amount of $4,765.00, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to court documents, the American 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. The court documents show that on six occasions between September 25, 2005 and October 26, 2005, HARRISON applied for and received disaster assistance funds from the Red Cross, each time representing that she had not received assistance in the past. Based on those fraudulent applications, HARRISON obtained $4,765.00 from the American Red Cross that she was not entitled to.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Spiro Latsis.