Sentencing in Hurricane Katrina Fraud Case

A Hancock County man has been sentenced to 15 months on federal charges related to a Hurricane Katrina fraud case.

Anthony L. Bryan has pleaded guilty in February to lying to the Mississippi Development Authority to obtain a Hurricane Katrina grant.

U. S. District Judge Walter J. Gex III also ordered Bryan this past week to pay restitution of $97,570 to the government. Gex also ordered Bryan to serve three years’ supervised release.

Bryan was charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $97,000 for a house he claimed was his primary residence when Katrina hit in 2005. Prosecutors say Bryan created a bill of sale to make it appear he owned and lived in the Bay St. Louis house.

Prosecutors allege that the house was not his primary residence.