Oklahoma Man To Serve Prison Sentence In Katrina Fraud

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A federal judge has sentenced an Oklahoma City man to 16 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining benefits meant for victims of Hurricane Katrina. <br/><br/>U.S. District Judge

Friday, August 3rd 2007, 2:16 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A federal judge has sentenced an Oklahoma City man to 16 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining benefits meant for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton on Thursday ordered Darryl Eugene Hayes, 40, to begin serving the sentence after he completes a four-year term he began in August 2006 for possession of crack cocaine.

He also ordered Hayes to pay more than $13,000 in restitution to FEMA, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Hayes was indicted in February on charges he made false statements in applying for disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

Hayes was living in an apartment subsidized by the Oklahoma Housing Authority at the time.

Hayes is one of 13 people to be charged in Oklahoma with fraudulently obtaining disaster benefits after Katrina.