PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island woman who stole nearly $5 million from close friends and family was denied special release from prison because of the pandemic on Monday.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. said in his ruling there is “nothing unique” about Monique Brady’s situation that would prompt her release to home confinement.
The 45-year-old East Greenwich resident is being held at the Women’s Facility at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, where three guards have tested positive for COVID-19.
Brady pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and obstructing an IRS investigation. She was sentenced in February to eight years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered her to pay nearly $5 million in restitution to her 23 victims.
Brady’s lawyer filed an emergency motion in federal court on Friday arguing that imprisonment would put Brady “at special risk of infection,” the Providence Journal reported.
A judge previously denied Brady’s request for home confinement. She was deemed a “flight risk” for allegedly planning to flee the country with her lover and buying a ticket for a one-way flight to Vietnam.
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