Shelbra Long, a 58-year-old resident of Edinburg, Texas, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for her role in a mail fraud and wire fraud conspiracy that lasted over ten years. The sentencing was announced by Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Andrew Balceniuk, Acting Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (ED OIG) – Eastern Regional Office.
Long admitted to participating in a scheme where she and others used stolen identities to apply for admission and financial aid at online colleges across the country, including an institution located in Albany, New York. After federal student aid funds were disbursed by the Department of Education to these schools, Long and her co-conspirators would withdraw the purported students from enrollment. The remaining funds not used for tuition or fees were then refunded by the schools into bank accounts controlled by the conspirators. Some of these funds were used by Long to pay household utilities or withdrawn as cash from ATMs.
The Department of Education awarded $466,430 based on fraudulent applications tied to this scheme, with $211,820 actually disbursed.
“Today’s sentencing punishes Shelbra Long for using stolen identities to shamelessly divert several hundredthousand dollars in federal aid into her own coffers. My Office and our partners will rout out these financial criminals wherever they are. It is time to stop the theft of student aid and for colleges to do more to ensure that the people enrolling in classes are genuine students,” said Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III.
Andrew Balceniuk added: “I’m proud of the work of OIG special agents and our law enforcement colleagues for shutting down yet another student aid fraud ring and holding Ms. Long accountable for her criminal actions. OIG is committed to fighting student aid fraud and we will continue to aggressively pursue those that participate in these types of crimes.”
United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also ordered Long to serve three years on supervised release following her prison term, pay restitution totaling $211,820, and forfeit $52,304.
The case was investigated by ED OIG with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Reiner.
