Posted on 06/16/2006 10:50:17 AM PDT by blam
Man pleads guilty to filing false claim
19-year-old drifter is first area man convicted in Katrina-related case
Friday, June 16, 2006
By BRENDAN KIRBY
Staff Reporter
A drifter who has spent time in a Florida jail pleaded guilty in Mobile's federal court Thursday to defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the first such conviction in southern Alabama relating to Hurricane Katrina.
Arthur Lee Bonner, 19, pleaded guilty to filing false claims against the government. He admitted to applying for and receiving $2,000 from FEMA for an address in Mobile where he did not live.
"There's no excuse for it, really," Assistant Federal Defender Chris Knight said after Thursday's hearing. "He pretty much admits to what the indictment states."
The plea comes amid withering criticism of FEMA's performance during and after Katrina. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reported this week that the federal government made as much as $1.4 billion in questionable payments following Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
Bonner will be sentenced in September, when he faces a possible jail term of two to eight months under advisory guidelines. Knight said he intends to ask Steele to give his client probation.
Bonner, dressed in the brown clothing and orange flip-flops issued by Mobile County Metro Jail, said nothing during his court appearance except "yes" or "no" to U.S. District Judge William Steele's questions.
According to law enforcement investigators, Bonner was in the Oakaloosa County Detention Center serving a sentence for grand theft auto when Katrina struck the Gulf Coast last Aug. 29. After getting out of jail the following month, Bonner went to the Salvation Army in Mobile and called the FEMA hot line to report damage to his home at 803 S. Broad St., Knight said. In the written plea agreement, Bonner admitted that he did not live there.
After making the initial application, Bonner followed up with a call to FEMA from a motel in Fort Walton Beach and retrieved the check when the agency mailed it to the Broad Street address, Knight said. Bonner then took the check to a check cashing business in Mobile, Knight added.
Knight said he does not know why his client selected that address, but authorities have said the home was unoccupied at the time.
Officials said they discovered the fraud after receiving a tip that someone had used Bonner's Social Security number to file a damage claim on another property, which did not exist.
Although Bonner apparently had nothing to do with that other filing, which remains under investigation, authorities said they discovered that he had made a claim at the Broad Street address. By then, Bonner was back in jail, this time on a charge of providing a false name to authorities. Knight said he will finish serving that sentence next month.
Knight questioned why FEMA was not more vigilant in verifying applications for assistance. "You would think they could do a minimal check by computer or something," he said.
so?
"" Hungry....will work for $2000.00 credit card""
FEMA is in a classic lose-lose position. If they give out aid checks quickly, fraud exists, if they hesitate and do verifications, they are dragging their feet in giving aid.
I hope they catch and prosecute them all...black, white, green or purple. If they are guilty of fraud, burn'em.
Heard on WABC radio this morning that Hooters is writing a check back to the government for a $200 bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne purchased with a FEMA debit card.
No way to win. If you take the time to verify the loss you are evil, if you hand out money based on trustingthe applicant, you are evil.
For a second I thought this was a story about Nagin/Blanco/Jefferson...
Officials said they discovered the fraud after receiving a tip that someone had used Bonner's Social Security number to file a damage claim on another property, which did not exist.
Yet another fine use for our stolen SS#s. Man, I've got to check on mine.
That was stupid of him to admit to it, unless hes just going for the free room and board in jail. The government has already said they won't be prosecuting any of the lying scumbags who defrauded them out of money. So sad that you can scam the government and get away with it.
One down, 600,000 to go (approximately). The average payout
for Katrina aid was a little over 2000 dollars. The GAO
figures about 1.4 billion was lost to fraud.
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