A Texas man who posed as an insurance adjuster and defrauded a Georgia church out of millions in insurance payouts for hurricane repairs has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison. Andrew Mitchell, formerly known as Andrew Aga, age 46, from Houston, was ordered to serve 235 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. He must also pay nearly $4 million in restitution to victims across several states.
Mitchell admitted guilt to one count of mail fraud on March 27 and confessed to similar crimes committed in Texas and Louisiana. As part of his sentence, he is required to pay $2,895,903.01 to Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company and $1,082,993.41 to other victims. His federal sentence will run concurrently with a state sentence imposed by the 29th Judicial District Court of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.
“Andrew Mitchell will spend nearly two decades in prison for concocting a devious scheme to swindle insurance money from a historic downtown Albany church, a crime he’s committed in other communities after natural disasters,” said U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes. “Our office and law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue and prosecute these types of fraudsters who prey on people at their most vulnerable.”
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John F. King commented: “At a time when victims were still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Michael, Andrew Mitchell took advantage of that vulnerability for his own personal gain. I am proud of our investigators and their work in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect hardworking Georgia families and hold the defendant responsible for his actions.”
Court documents show that Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Pine Avenue in Albany suffered major damage during Hurricane Michael—a Category 5 storm that struck Florida’s coast before impacting Georgia as a Category 3 hurricane with winds up to 115 mph in October 2018. The church's insurer, Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company based in Indiana, issued an initial payment for repairs but later released additional funds after receiving inflated repair estimates submitted by Mitchell under various company names.
Mitchell used aliases such as Eric Goldberg and claimed associations with entities including Blue Key Construction; International Consulting Group; Texas Wind Consultants LLC; Loss Consultants of Texas LLC (also known as Texas Claim Consultants); and Georgia Claim Consultants.
Between late 2018 and early 2021, Mitchell sent fraudulent documentation—such as forged contracts and false invoices—to Brotherhood Mutual requesting ever-increasing amounts for repair costs at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. At times he forged endorsements or misrepresented contract terms without the knowledge or consent of church officials or contractors named on those documents.
Blue Key Construction was paid approximately $2.3 million by Mitchell but did not complete repairs before halting work; meanwhile, the church itself received less than one-third of all proceeds paid out by the insurer intended solely for its recovery following Hurricane Michael.
The investigation into this case was conducted by the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Fire Safety while Criminal Chief Leah McEwen prosecuted it on behalf of the government.
