Tequisha M. Johnson, 31, Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced in federal court to 37 months in prison for her conviction on one count of forgery, one count of computer fraud and one count of bank fraud. Additionally, Johnson is ordered to pay $160,846.68 in restitution and serve five years of supervised release upon her release from prison.
According to information presented to the court by Assistant United States Attorney Tom Bradley, Johnson admitted committing forgery to steal from the Salvation Army; using computer fraud to steal from Easter Seals; and committing bank fraud by lying to Wells Fargo Bank in an attempt to obtain a home mortgage. She was an employee of the Salvation Army and Easter Seals when she stole from them. In her attempt to obtain a loan, Johnson submitted a paystub which indicated she earned $4,000 per payperiod. The paystub did not appear on its face to be an Easter Seal paystub, however Johnson represented that she continued to be employed with Easter Seals at the time of the application process. In fact, she had already been terminated for unlawfully transferring Easter Seals' funds to her personal bank account.
In imposing sentence, United States District Judge Beistline noted that the sentence included an additional ten months because Johnson committed these crimes while released on bail.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.