Former Cedar Rapids Resident Sentenced for Defrauding FEMA

A woman who lied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to get disaster benefits following the June 2008 Eastern Iowa flood was sentenced on January 16, 2013, to 18 months in federal prison.

Emily Protsman, age 37, now of Coralville and formerly from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 30, 2012 guilty plea to one count of disaster benefits fraud.

At the October 30, 2012 guilty plea hearing, Protsman admitted that, on July 18, 2008, she submitted a fraudulent application to FEMA seeking benefits related to the June 2008 flood in Eastern Iowa. Protsman admitted she falsely claimed she lived at a specific residence in Cedar Rapids at the time of the flood and that her home and personal property were damaged. Protsman admitted that, at the time of the flood, she did not live at the residence identified in the application and Protsman’s home and personal property were not damaged.

Protsman was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Protsman was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and she was ordered to make $8846.95 in restitution. There is no parole in the federal system.

Protsman was released on previously set conditions and is to surrender to the United States Marshals Service on February 20, 2013.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.