Press Release from the United States Attorney’s Office in Louisiana:

BATON ROUGE, LA – United States Attorney David R. Dugas announced that three Louisiana residents were sentenced Friday, May 29, 2009, in federal court by United States District Court Judge James Brady on charges of making false writings and documents, delay of mail, and making a false claim with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

KERALA R. BARROW, age 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pled guilty in August 2008 to an indictment charging her with making false writings and documents. The indictment charged that from on or about January 14, 2006, through on or about June 9, 2006, BARROW, who was hired to work at the United States Postal Service’s General Mail Facility on Bluebonnet Boulevard in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, submitted nineteen false and fraudulent time-sheets in which she claimed she had worked on days that she had not; claimed that she had worked more hours, or that she had worked longer shifts than she actually had; and forged the initials and/or signatures of her supervisors. BARROW was sentenced on Friday, May 29, 2009, to five years of probation, $6,822.19 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.

JIMMIE ARMSTRONG, JR., age 21, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pled guilty in August 2008 to an indictment charging delay of mail. The indictment charged that in April of 2007, while a United States Postal Service employee, ARMSTRONG threw more than one hundred pieces of U.S. mail into a dumpster instead of delivering it. Agents from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General recovered the mail a few days later. ARMSTRONG was sentenced on Friday, May 29, 2009, to three years of probation, a $2,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.

JOYCE G. MAYFIELD, age 53, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pled guilty in July 2008 to Count One of an indictment charging her with making a false claim and making false statements. The indictment charged that in September of 2005, MAYFIELD, while a United States Postal Service employee, filed a false and fraudulent claim with FEMA for Hurricane Katrina disaster assistance benefits, falsely claiming that she had been living in Gretna, Louisiana, at the time of the storm and that the storm caused her to have an essential need for food, clothing, and shelter. MAYFIELD was sentenced on Friday, May 29, 2009, to one year of probation, $4,358 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment. The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.