Slidell Woman Pleads Guilty To Grant Fraud

(Information in the following story is from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com)

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — An 86-year-old Louisiana woman has agreed to make restitution on a homeowner-assistance grant she wasn't eligible to receive because the Katrina-damaged home she claimed for a grant wasn't her primary residence.

The Sun Herald reports Rita Rohli Lee of Slidell, La., pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Gulfport, Miss., to making false statements on a grant application in 2008.

Sheila Wilbanks of the U.S. Attorney's Office says Lee claimed a home in Pass Christian was her primary residence, but it was a secondary home she owned and often rented out.

Lee received a $100,000 grant from the Mississippi Development Authority in a program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

She will be sentenced July 26 before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden.