Shelbra Long, a 58-year-old resident of Edinburg, Texas, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for her role in a mail fraud and wire fraud conspiracy that spanned ten years. The sentencing took place in Albany, New York.
Long admitted to orchestrating a scheme where she and others used stolen identities to apply for admission and financial aid at online colleges across the United States, including an institution in Albany. After federal student aid funds were disbursed by the Department of Education to these schools, Long and her associates would withdraw the purported students from enrollment. The remaining funds were then refunded by the schools into accounts controlled by the conspirators. Long used some of these funds to pay her home utilities and withdrew other amounts from ATMs.
The Department of Education approved $466,430 in aid as part of this scheme, with $211,820 actually disbursed.
Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated, “Today’s sentencing punishes Shelbra Long for using stolen identities to shamelessly divert several hundredthousand dollars in federal aid into her own coffers. My Office and our partners will rout out these financial criminals wherever they are. It is time to stop the theft of student aid and for colleges to do more to ensure that the people enrolling in classes are genuine students.”
ED OIG Acting Special Agent in Charge Andrew Balceniuk added, “I’m proud of the work of OIG special agents and our law enforcement colleagues for shutting down yet another student aid fraud ring and holding Ms. Long accountable for her criminal actions. OIG is committed to fighting student aid fraud and we will continue to aggressively pursue those that participate in these types of crimes.”
United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also imposed a three-year term of supervised release on Long. She was ordered to pay $211,820 in restitution and forfeit $52,304.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (ED OIG) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Reiner.
