FUNDAMENTOS DE DOCTRINA

Mississippi

Gregory Warr, the mayor of Gulfport, MS, a city directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and Laura Warr, his wife, were each charged in a 16-count federal indictment with mail fraud, wire fraud, theft of public money, false statements, false claims and conspiracy. The case is now pending in U.S. District Court in Gulfport,

MS. According to the indictment, the Warrs fraudulently obtained disaster

assistance from HUD and FEMA and filed fraudulent insurance claims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Mayor Warr and his wife applied for and received $150,000 in HUD CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the MDA and $9,558 in FEMA disaster assistance for hurricane-damaged residential property, but allegedly the damaged property was not their primary residence during Hurricane Katrina.

Wayne Rogers and Latanicia McMillan, also known as Latanicia McMillan-Rogers, were arrested and indicted by a Federal grand jury. The criminal case is now pending in U.S. District Court, Jackson,

MS. Rogers and McMillan were charged with three counts of theft of government funds and one count

of false claims. They applied for and received $91,021 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the MDA, $4,358 in FEMA disaster assistance, and $152,000 in SBA disaster loan funds for hurricane-damaged residential property, but allegedly the damaged property was not their residence during Hurricane Katrina.

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Roger and Annette Williams were sentenced in U.S. District Court, Gulfport, MS, to a combined 28 months incarceration, 4 months home confinement, and 10 years supervised release. They were ordered to pay $116,505 in restitution and perform 200 hours of community service. The two had pled guilty to charges making false statements, submitting false loan or credit applications, and committing theft of government funds or Federal program fraud. Roger and Annette Williams applied for and received FEMA, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and SBA disaster loan funds and attempted to obtain $150,000 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the MDA for hurricane-damaged residential property. They admitted that they did not occupy the damaged property as their primary residence during Hurricane Katrina.

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Beatrice E. Moses, of Ocean Springs, MS, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 15 months in federal prison for fraud against HUD, FEMA, the SBA, and USDA. Moses was also ordered to make restitution to FEMA in the amount of $24,779, to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) in the amount of $50,929 (for a MEMA cottage), and to USDA in the amount of $1,810. A forfeiture order of a money judgment in the sum of $24,779 was also entered against Moses. Moses pled guilty on October 28, 2008, to making false statements to the MDA for a HUD disaster home grant, making false statements to USDA and the SBA, and stealing government funds from FEMA. In the same case, Leverne Moses, husband of Beatrice Moses, entered a plea of guilty to making a false statement to the SBA and was sentenced to 5 years probation.

Louisiana

Barbara Dowl was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with theft of government funds, false statements, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The case is now pending in U.S. District Court, New

Orleans, LA. Dowl's ex-husband, Nathaniel Dowl, was charged in Orleans Parish Criminal District

Court, New Orleans, LA, and pled guilty to filing false public records. According to the indictment, before Hurricane Katrina, Nathaniel and Barbara Dowl's property was foreclosed on by the City of New Orleans for unpaid taxes. After Hurricane Katrina, Nathaniel Dowl filed a false quit claim deed on the property in his and Barbara Dowl's name. Barbara Dowl allegedly, using the quit claim deed,

Copyright, 2009. The Sun Herald - Gulfport, MS. Reprinted with permission.

applied for and received $132,000 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the Road Home program and $75,000 in SBA disaster assistance for hurricane-damaged residential property. Dowl is scheduled to go to trial on June 1, 2009.

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Ryant Price, a resident of Saint Rose, LA, was charged in a one-count indictment by a Federal grand jury on charges of theft of government funds in connection with his 2006 application for Louisiana Road Home program funds. The case is now pending in U.S. District Court, New Orleans, LA. According to the indictment, before and during the time of Hurricane Katrina, Ryant Price resided in his primary residence in Saint Rose. It is alleged that in 2006, Price applied for funds from the Louisiana Road Home program, claiming that a second home he owned, located in New Orleans, was his primary residence at the time of the storm. According to court documents, as a result of his application, Price received approximately $105,000 in Louisiana Road Home program funds to which he was not entitled.

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Billy Lawrence, a resident from New Orleans, LA, was charged with one count of theft of government funds. According to the bill of information, Lawrence applied for and received a Road Home grant of $98,486 for a rental property he owned on Short Street in New Orleans. It is alleged that Lawrence fraudulently represented that he was a full-time resident of the Short Street property, when he had been renting the property to tenants and lived elsewhere at the time of the storm.

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Pearl DiLeo, a New Orleans resident, was charged in a one-count indictment by a Federal grand jury for theft of government funds in connection with her 2007 application for Louisiana Road Home program funds. According to the indictment, before and during the time of Hurricane Katrina, DiLeo resided in her primary residence on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, LA. It is alleged that in 2006, DiLeo applied for funds from the Louisiana Road Home program, claiming that a second home she owned, located in Mandeville, LA, was her primary residence at the time of the storm. According to court documents, as a result of her application, she received approximately $149,925 in Louisiana Road Home program funds to which she was not entitled.

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Robert Lombardino was charged with committing theft of government funds. The case is now pending in U.S. District Court, New Orleans, LA. Lombardino applied for and received $134,000 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the Road Home program for hurricane-damaged property, but allegedly the damaged property was not Lombardino's primary residence, but rather a rental property, during Hurricane Katrina.

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Copyright, 2009. The Times-Picayune - New Orleans, LA. Reprinted with permission.

Copyright, 2009. The Times-Picayune - New Orleans, LA. Reprinted with permission.

Copyright, 2009. The Times-Picayune - New Orleans, LA. Reprinted with permission. Copyright, 2009. The Times-Picayune - New Orleans, LA. Reprinted with permission.

Jacqueline Foreman-Pottinger, a resident of Metairie, LA, was charged via a bill of information with and pled guilty to one count of theft of government funds. Pottinger applied for and received a Road Home grant of $148, 078 for a rental property she owned on Florida Boulevard in New Orleans. Pottinger fraudulently represented that she was a full-time resident of the Florida Boulevard property, when she had been renting the property to tenants at the time of the storm.

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Eva Baptiste, a New Orleans resident, pled guilty to a one-count bill of information for theft of government funds in connection with her 2007 application for Louisiana Road Home program funds. According to the bill of information, before and during the time of Hurricane Katrina, Eva Baptiste resided in her primary residence on North Roman Street in New

Orleans, LA. In 2007, Baptiste applied for funds from the

Louisiana Road Home program, claiming that a second home she owned, located in the 1500 block of Lesseps Street in New Orleans, LA, was her primary residence at the time of the storm. According to court documents, as a result of her application, Baptiste received approximately $110,420 in Louisiana Road Home program funds to which she was not entitled.

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Raymond Cuccia pled guilty in U.S. District Court, New

Orleans, LA, to charges of theft of government funds. Cuccia

applied for and received $64,320 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the Road Home program for hurricane-damaged residential property, but the damaged property was not his primary residence during Hurricane Katrina.

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Angelica Williams and her sister Carrie Williams each pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Baton Rouge, LA. Angelica Williams pled guilty to charges of false statements; Carrie Williams pled guilty to charges of false statements and aiding and abetting. Angelica Williams was not the legal, registered owner of the home in which she resided at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Using a computer, Angelica Williams created a false and fraudulent bill of sale showing that she had purchased the property. Carrie Williams forged the signature of the seller on the fraudulent bill of sale. Angelica Williams, using the bogus bill of sale, applied for and received $28,967 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the Road Home program for hurricane-damaged residential property.

Maryland

Months before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, Schewanda Baptiste rented out her home in New Orleans and moved to Maryland. After Katrina, Baptiste applied for and received FEMA disaster assistance, claiming that she had evacuated Louisiana as a result of the storm. When Baptiste's tenant, who did evacuate as a result of Katrina, applied for FEMA disaster assistance, the tenant was denied assistance because someone had already filed a claim from the address. In addition to receiving FEMA disaster assistance, Baptiste applied for and received $30,000 in CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance funds through the Road Home program. In the first Hurricane Katrina fraud case prosecuted in the District of Maryland, Schewanda Baptiste pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Greenbelt,

MD, to charges of theft of government property.

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