FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
December 5, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:09CR-00465-AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Michelle M. Hollis, 57, of Mariposa, pleaded guilty today to theft of government money for collecting death benefits she was not entitled to receive.

According to the plea agreement, between January 2004 and May 30, 2008, Hollis stole $115,759 in Veteran's Affair's death benefits to which she was not entitled. In 1993, her husband John Hollis was on active duty in the United States Navy and died from a lethal ingestion of ethylene glycol, also known as antifreeze. After her husband's death, Hollis began to receive survivor benefits from the Department of Veteran's Affairs. In May 2008, Hollis pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of her husband. She was not entitled to receive any of the survivor benefits since she caused the death of her husband.

The maximum statutory penalty for the theft of government money is 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The case is the product of an investigation by the United States Department of Veteran's Affairs Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Assistant United States Attorney Michele Thielhorn is prosecuting the case.

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