Press Releases
KENTWOOD WOMAN SENTENCED IN FEDERAL COURT FOR CHILDCARE PROGRAM FRAUD PROBE
November 21, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANICE FULTZ-GARDNER, age 46, a resident of Kentwood, LA, was sentenced yesterday by U. S. District Judge Lance M. Africk for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
GARDNER was sentenced to serve twelve (12) months and one (1) day imprisonment, three (3) years of supervised release and has already paid restitution to the U. S. Department of Health and Human services (DHHS) totaling $55,636 and the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) totaling $22,850.
Co-defendant SHIRLEY FREEMAN, age 51, a resident of Amite, LA, was sentenced on November 13, 2008, to five (5) years probation and ordered to pay restitution to DOL in the amount of $60,055, following her plea to theft from employment and training funds. Co-defendant, LAFETE TUCKER, age 45, a resident of Amite, LA, is set to be sentenced on January 22, 2009 also on a charge of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.
According to court documents, TUCKER, while a client service manager employed by the Louisiana Workforce Investment Act - District 20 (LWIA) in Tangipahoa Parish, a DOL funded agency providing job skills training and child care services, and the owner of the Magnified Youth Center, a DOL and DHHS funded social services facility, submitted false vouchers to the federal government for services not rendered and expenses not incurred. Through this scheme, TUCKER unlawfully received approximately $104,000.00 from the DOL and $10,200.00 from the DHHS.
GARDNER, a former client service manager for LWIA and owner of Building Blocks Early Learning Center, a DHHS funded child care facility in Tangipahoa Parish providing parenting training and child care, submitted fraudulent vouchers alleging the lease of computers and office equipment which were never leased resulting in her unlawful receipt of approximately $55,636.00. Additionally, GARDNER submitted fraudulent vouchers for payment regarding social services not rendered and unlawfully received approximately $22,850.00 from the DOL.
FREEMAN, the owner of Cribs to Crayons, a DOL funded childcare facility, was prohibited from receiving reimbursement from both the DOL and the DHHS for rendering the same child care services. Between December 2002 and May 2003, FREEMAN submitted vouchers to the DOL and the DHHS attesting that she provided child care for the same children at the same time thereby unlawfully obtaining approximately $60,000.00 in duplicate child care reimbursement from the DOL.
Michael J. De Palma, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation stated:
"It is the goal of IRS Criminal Investigation to work with the Department of Justice to ensure that those engaged in illegal activities are brought to justice. I am pleased this prosecution has been brought to a successful completion. We will continue to work with other federal and state agencies to investigate and prosecute individuals who conspire to defraud the United States Government."
This case was investigated by special agents of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, Louisiana Department of Social Services, Office of Family Support - Fraud and Recovery Section, auditors for the Louisiana Workforce Investment Board, the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with agents from the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division,
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael M. Simpson and Richard R. Pickens, II.
