A former Prince George's County Board of Education member got probation for stealing school lunches.
Lynette Mundey applied for and received $1,700 in free lunches between 2010 and 2015 even though her income was much higher than the $40,000 cut-off point for the program, NBCWashington previously reported. During that time, her income was more $70,000.
Mundey was sentenced to 10 years all suspended, three years of supervised probation and 100 hours of community service, officials said. She was also and ordered to pay $346 in restitution.
Mundey worked for the Government Accountability Office, which uncovered the fraud in a routine investigation. Five other employees also defrauded the program for $11,432 in lunches, officials said.
“We are pleased that Ms. Mundey has been held accountable for her actions and I hope this sends a message that this behavior will not be tolerated in Prince George’s County,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said in a statement. “This young woman had gainful employment and it is simply unacceptable to take food out of the mouths of children and families who truly cannot afford lunch.”
The fraud was uncovered during a 2014 audit of the lunch program by the Government Accountability Office. The agency noticed several of its own employees received assistance from the program in Prince George’s County because they underreported their income or reported no income on their applications.
The other employees, Barbara Rowley, Jamilah Reid, Tracy Williams, Charlene Savoy and Terri Pinkney, were also found guilty of charges related to the incident.
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Rowley, who pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a public assistance application, will be sentenced to three years suspended, three years probation, 50 hours of community service and $3,322 in restitution.
A jury found Reid guilty of felony theft, welfare fraud and related charges. Reid was sentenced to 10 years with all but 12 weekends suspended as well as five years probation, 100 hours of community service and $3,200 in restitution.
Williams was found guilty of felony theft, welfare fraud and related charges in a bench trial and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years suspended, three years probation and $2,146 in restitution.
Savoy pleaded guilty to felony theft and got probation before judgment, three years of unsupervised probation, 100 hours of community service and $781 in restitution.
Pinkney pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a public assistance application and got three years suspended, three years oprobation, 50 hours of community service and $1,737 in restitution. Charges against her husband were dropped when she confessed to submitting the false documents.
