A Louisiana woman has pleaded guilty to mail fraud after she was found to have lied to gain an insurance payout from
State Farm – and she may be looking at up to 20 years in prison.
Lasandra Laverne Edwards, 54, was the cause of her own unravelling after she made contradictory declarations in her insurance documents and on US Bankruptcy Court filings.
Edwards, from Monroe, filed for bankruptcy in October 2013, and as part of the declaration, valued her furniture and clothing at $1,000, a KTAL report said.
A month later, she purchased a renters’ policy that valued her assets at $100,000.
Just a month after that, on December 01, Edwards’ house caught fire and burned, destroying her possessions.
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A few days after the fire, on December 10, Edwards attended a creditors’ hearing associated with her bankruptcy case, where she reaffirmed the information she had given in the previous filings – that her furniture and clothing were valued at $1,000.
However, on the following day, Edwards filed a claim under her insurance policy with State Farm, falsely stating that her personal property was valued at $116,063.
Edwards’ guilty plea, which was announced by US Attorney Stephanie A. Finley, will become final when accepted by US District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, the report said.
Edwards faces up to 20 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release, restitution and a $250,000 fine.
She is set to be sentenced on June 01.
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