Two Plead Guilty To Stealing From Housing Authority

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A former executive director of the Morgan City Housing Authority and a former employee have pleaded guilty to charges they conspired to steal more than $500,000 in bonus payments from the agency.

U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley's office says 78-year-old Charles E. Spann and 38-year-old Tori D. Johnson face maximum sentences of five years in prison and $250,000 fines following their guilty pleas Friday.

Spann, now a resident of Kingsport, Tennessee, served as the housing authority's executive director from April 2007 until June 2013.

Finley's office says Spann, Johnson and two other employees received nearly $515,000 in bonus payments to which they were not entitled. Prosecutors say Johnson wrote false justifications for the bonuses, and Spann approved them.

They are scheduled to be sentenced on June 27.

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