Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that United States District Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Tammy J. Mc Kenney, 50, of Portland, Maine to 2 years of probation and $26,646.60 worth of restitution for Theft of Public Money.
According to court documents, VA dependency and indemnity compensation is a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of military service members or veterans who died as a result of a service-related injury. A friend of Mc Kenney was the recipient of VA survivor benefits and those benefits were being paid into an account which Mc Kenney held jointly with her friend. When the friend died in 2012, the benefit payments continued to be paid into the joint account. Mc Kenney regularly accessed the account and spent the benefit money until the VA learned of the friend’s death. In all, McKenney received more than $26,000 worth of benefits to which she was not entitled.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Office of Inspector General.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
