UNITED STATES ATTORNEY JOYCE WHITE VANCE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			CONTACT: PEGGY SANFORD
	AUGUST 26, 2009			PHONE: (205) 244-2020
	www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln			FAX: (205) 244-2171

WOMAN  CHARGED IN FEDERAL COURT WITH THEFT OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY

            BIRMINGHAM, AL - United States Attorney Joyce White Vance announced today that TERESA WATKINS AUSBROOKS has been indicted by a federal grand jury for theft of government property.

            AUSBROOKS, 53, of Fairfield, was charged in a two-count indictment filed today at U.S. District Court in Birmingham.

            Count one charges theft of government property from Sept. 1, 2007, to Oct. 31, 2007.  It charges that between those dates, Ausbrooks received Social Security benefits intended for her mother.  Ausbrooks failed to inform the Social Security Administration of her mother’s death and fraudulently used benefits to which she was not entitled.

            The maximum sentence for count one is not more than 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.  Count two specifies the amount stolen was $16,388, which will be forfeited to the government if Ausbrooks is convicted as charged.

            Special agents of the U.S. Social Security Administration worked this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Carney is prosecuting it.

            Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.