A Texas woman who was a civilian employee of the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for stealing nearly $109 million from a youth development program for children of military families.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in federal court in San Antonio after pleading guilty in March to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing a false tax return.
Prosecutors say Mello, as financial manager who handled funding for a youth program at the military base, determined whether grant money was available. She created a fraudulent group called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development.
“Janet Mello betrayed the trust of the government agency she served and repeatedly lied in an effort to enrich herself,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.
I just want to make sure people understand who she was stealing from. Most of these kids will qualify for government assistance. They will all move at least 4 times during their school years. They do not have anywhere they can go to screw around, there’s adults all over the base that have no problem reporting the kids to the boss of their parents.
They desperately need their community centers and programs. Their parents are depending on these programs as a part of making it acceptable to raise children in that environment. In some cases the after school care program is absolutely essential because both parents are service members and both of them are kept after normal duty hours.
This woman stole that. She stole the summer lunches, the basketballs, and the college prep classes from some of the most stressed kids I’ve ever seen.
She can rot in that prison for the rest of her fucking life for all anyone associated with the military cares.