NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – SCHSHINETIA ANDERSON, age 44, a resident of Slidell, Louisiana, pled guilty on August 11, 2022 to FEMA fraud announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced before the Honorable Mary Ann Vial Lemmon on November 10, 2022. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
According to court documents, on or about August 18, 2016, ANDERSON filed a fraudulent request for financial assistance due to a natural disaster related to the alleged loss of her primary residence. In truth and in fact, as she well knew, the house she had been renting did not sustain any damage and she prepared false records claiming that it had. She also prepared false and inflated rent lease agreements to increase the funds she received from FEMA. ANDERSON received approximately $22,104 as a result of her fraud.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security in investigating this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U. S. Attorney G. Dall Kammer, Chief of the General Crimes Unit.