San Diego woman sentenced to prison in Hurricane Katrina fraud case
A 43-year-old San Diego woman was sentenced in federal court Monday to 27 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $20,000 in disaster relief funds by posing as a victim of Hurricane Katrina.
Cynthia Magee received more than $14,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and more than $5,000 from the American Red Cross after the 2005 hurricane that struck the New Orleans region, according to court documents.
For the FEMA funds, Magee falsely claimed that her primary residence was New Orleans; and for the Red Cross disaster-relief debit cards, she claimed to live in Louisiana and Mississippi, prosecutors said.
-- Tony Perry in San Diego
EDITOR'S PICKS:
I hope she has to pay everything back with interest, and if she doesn't have the money she loses everything she owns. If she still doesn't have the money she works it off until she pays for everything.
What a sick person to do such a thing. I know there are more, but at least they caught one.
Posted by: jeff | March 14, 2011 at 07:13 PM
So all I had to do was CLAIM that I lived in New Orleans? Wow. FEMA, great job. Another stellar federal agency!!!
Posted by: SRC | March 15, 2011 at 07:46 AM
What a disgusting human being. I was a San Diego tourist who was stuck in that dank Superdome during Katrina and the levee failures. I would love to sit face to face and talk with this woman about what others really went through. Others are still suffering PTSD and still cutting through bureaucracy to try and rebuild. If I was the judge I think I would add on to her sentence community service working for Habitat For Humanity or some other charitable organization in the area.
Paul Harris
Author, "Diary From the Dome, Reflections on Fear and Privilege During Katrina"
Posted by: Paul Harris | March 15, 2011 at 09:25 AM