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Press Release

Longview Man Indicted for Student Financial Aid Fraud Scheme; Sister Pleads Guilty

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Texas

TYLER, Texas – A 30-year-old Longview, Texas man has been indicted for his role in a student financial aid fraud scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.

 

Robert Brisco was indicted by a federal grand jury today and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, multiple counts of mail fraud, and multiple counts of student financial aid fraud.

 

According to the indictment, from June 2013 to September 2015, Brisco and others are alleged to have conspired to use wire communications and the mail to fraudulently obtain student financial aid funds through the Pell Grant Program and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. If convicted, Brisco faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

 

An indictment merely establishes probable cause, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

 

Brisco's mother, Gracie Brisco, 54, of Longview, was indicted on Mar. 22, 2017, on multiple counts of student financial aid fraud.

 

Brisco's sister, Shanitra Frost, 34, of Longview, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell to student financial aid fraud. Frost faces up to 5 years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.

 

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education - Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Longview Police Department, and the Kilgore College Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld is prosecuting this case.

 

Updated July 20, 2017

Topic
Financial Fraud