Avoyelles inmates who got FEMA checks indicted on fraud charges

SHREVEPORT (AP) — Two female inmates at the Avoyelles Women’s Correctional Facility in Cottonport have been indicted on charges they pretended to be hurricane Katrina refugees to get FEMA relief funds, United States Attorney Donald W. Washington announced Thursday.
Amber Lynn Williams and Sherri Lee Davis were each charged with one count of theft of public money and one count of mail fraud.
Williams claimed that her primary residence in New Orleans had been damaged and received a $2,000 FEMA check. Davis claimed her home, which she rents, was also damaged and received both an initial $2,000 check and another for $2,358.
Both inmates requested their checks be mailed to them at the Avoyelles Women’s Correctional Facility.
When the money arrived at the facility, officials there intercepted the checks.
Williams and Davis are scheduled to make their initial appearances in U.S. District Court on Nov. 21.
If convicted, both face a maximum of 10 years in prison on the charge of theft, 20 years on the charge of mail fraud, and a $250,000 fine.