United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

WOMAN WHO MADE FALSE STATEMENTS TO FEDERAL AGENTS INVESTIGATING FEMA PAYMENTS IS SENTENCED

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTINE TATE, 31, of Putnam Street, New Britain, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to three years of probation for making false statements to federal agents investigating Hurricane Katrina relief payments she received.  On November 16, 2009, TATE pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to federal law enforcement officials.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in February 2005, TATE executed a lease for the purpose of residing with her children at an apartment at 105 Sherbrooke Avenue in Hartford.  The monthly rent for the apartment was then paid for with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development “Section 8” benefits.  However, between March and September 2005, TATE lived in Foley, Alabama, with her mother and permitted other unauthorized individuals to stay in her Hartford apartment.

TATE was in Alabama when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf region on August 29, 2005.  She returned to Connecticut in September 2005.  On September 21, 2005, TATE applied for Hurricane Katrina emergency disaster benefits through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  TATE identified the Alabama home of her mother as her primary residence, and she indicated that mandatory evacuation restricted access to her home.  On September 22, 2005, pursuant to its “Expedited Assistance” program, FEMA mailed a check in the amount of $2,000 to TATE at the Sherbrooke Avenue residence in Hartford.  TATE later applied for additional relief benefits and, in February 2006, she received another check from FEMA in the amount of $1,472.

On August 28, 2006, TATE was interviewed by special agents of the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security relating to payments she had received from FEMA following Hurricane Katrina.  When asked by the agents about her leasing of the 105 Sherbrooke Avenue apartment, TATE falsely stated that she was not aware that the apartment was being leased in her name and paid for with HUD Section 8 funds.

Today, Judge Burns ordered TATE to pay restitution in the amount of $3472 to the government.

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William A. Collier.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov