A 29-year-old New Orleans woman has been sentenced to probation for four years for mail fraud relating to a fraudulent application she made for help after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente says Alicia Wells was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.
Wells applied for disaster assistance, saying she was working at Center Plate before the spill. However, Boente says Wells had never worked there and had submitted false documentation to establish her false employment and false loss of earnings. Based on her application, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility sent her three checks, totaling $13,200 to which she was not entitled.
In addition to probation, Barbier ordered Wells to pay restitution to BP America.
Photo courtesy http://www.lifelock.com/education/id-theft-types/mail/