U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that TRACIE MEDUS, age 40, of New Orleans, was sentenced today after having previously pled guilty to theft of government funds.
U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon sentenced MEDUS to three years probation, including one year of home confinement. Additionally, MEDUS was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $158,700.
MEDUS admitted that she defrauded the federally funded Small Rental Property Program, a Louisiana Road Home program to enable low-income families displaced by Hurricane Katrina to return to Louisiana. The program provided money for landlords to repair units to be rented at specified low rates to approved low-income tenants. Road Home required that tenants be approved for income eligibility and to reside in units prior to landlords receiving funds.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter and thanked the New Orleans Police Department’s Public Integrity Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division for their assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon was in charge of this prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
