CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia man pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency of 2016 disaster relief funds.
Randall Butler, 46, of Charleston, entered the plea in federal court to one count of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits.
Prosecutors said Butler lived in an apartment in Clendenin at the time of the 2016 floods that killed 23 people statewide. FEMA was authorized to provide assistance to affected residents in the area, including rental assistance.
Butler admitted he received about $8,600 from FEMA for rental assistance, even though he had not been paying the rent himself. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had submitted rental payments on his behalf, prosecutors said.
“Butler took advantage of a program designed to help people, not to fill up his personal piggy bank,” U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said in a statement.
Butler faces up to 30 years in prison. Sentencing was set for Oct. 6.
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