Woman Charged With Defrauding FEMA After Gustav

A LaPlace, La., woman has been charged with fraudulently receiving more than $28,000 in federal aid following Hurricane Gustav in 2008.

A court filing Tuesday charges 33-year-old Shanette Raquell Kennard with one count of theft of government funds. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if she is convicted of the charge.

Federal prosecutors say Kennard applied for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, claiming she owned a mobile home in Convent and was living in it when the hurricane struck.

But prosecutors say Kennard’s primary residence wasn’t in Convent when Gustav made landfall and she didn’t become the owner of the mobile home until a month after the storm.