Former Harahan Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Obtaining Property by Fraud

NEW ORLEANS, LA—CAROL NEY, age 63, a resident of Kenner, Louisiana, pled guilty today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman to one count of obtaining property by fraud concerning programs receiving federal funds, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to the factual basis, NEY admitted that while employed as a police officer for the City of Harahan, she served as the city's victim assistance advocate and project director of a victim assistance program funded by a federal grant as a subgrantee of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice.

NEY further admitted that she falsely represented she worked overtime hours on the Crime Victims Grant. According to the factual basis, NEY certified she had worked overtime during a week when she was vacationing out of state and also on a date when she had directed another employee to attend in her place a National Crime Victims' Rights Week event held on a weekend. Based on these fraudulent certifications, NEY received a total of $20,515 in overtime payments during the two annual grant periods.

NEY faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years' supervised release, and restitution. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 10, 2011.

Speaking to today's guilty plea, Harahan Police Chief Mac Dickinson stated: "I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the FBI and Mr. Letten's office in pursuing this case. This was not something I wanted to find as a newly elected police chief, but it required immediate attention—and they did just that. Harahan is a small municipality yet the FBI and the U.S. Attorney did not diminish the importance of addressing the misappropriation of federal funds because of that. This kind of effort underscores their intention to root out illegal activities within governmental organizations of all sizes. With the closure of this case, we are setting a new course of transparency and trust for the Harahan Police Department."

U.S. Attorney Letten expressed his gratitude to Jacob M. "Mac" Dickinson, Chief of Police, City of Harahan, for his and his department's assistance and cooperation in this matter.

The case is being investigated by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eileen Gleason.