February 4, 11

NEWS / Hammond Woman Sentenced for Defrauding American Red Cross

NEW ORLEANS, LA—NADINE TILLIS, age 50, a resident of Hammond, Louisiana, was sentenced in federal court today by U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to six months’ imprisonment for wire fraud relating to fraudulent applications for financial assistance after Hurricane Katrina, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten. In addition, TILLIS has been to ordered to pay $4,395 in restitution to the Red Cross and serve three years of supervised release, during which time she will be under federal supervision and risks additional imprisonment should she violate any terms of the release.

According to court documents, TILLIS previously pled guilty and admitted that she applied for and received disaster assistance funds from the American Red Cross four times. 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. TILLIS repeatedly applied for these funds throughout the early fall of 2005, indicating that she had not yet received any money at all from the Red Cross. In all, TILLIS fraudulently obtained $4,395 from the American Red Cross.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia K. Evans.

http://neworleans.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel11/no020311.htm

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