Woman in Day-Care Deaths Accused of Welfare Fraud : Regulations: Felony charges are filed alleging that she lied to collect food stamps and Aid to Families With Dependent Children benefits for a child who was not entitled.

Eleven months after a fire killed two babies in her home, a day-care provider has been charged with welfare fraud, authorities said Friday.

Patricia Amalia Orozco, 50, is accused of lying to the county to collect food stamps and Aid to Families With Dependent Children benefits for a child who was not entitled to them, according to charges filed Wednesday by the Orange County district attorney’s office.

The two felony charges each carry a maximum penalty of three years and eight months in prison, authorities said. Orozco is to be arraigned May 23. She did not respond Friday to requests for comment.

The investigation began after a tip from the parents of one of the children who died in the June 9, 1989, blaze at Orozco’s home on Audrey Drive in Huntington Beach.

The fire broke out when one of four children in Orozco’s care began playing with a disposable cigarette lighter, fire officials later ruled. Jessica Jordan, 8 months, and John W. Reilly IV, 13 months, were killed. Orozco carried Nicholas Duncan, 9 months, out of the house, but he was severely burned. A 3-year-old was unharmed.

“After the fire took place, we wanted a little more answers than what we were getting, so we started to talk to people,” said Patricia Reilly, mother of John. “We found out she was collecting welfare and AFDC, as well as probably making between $375 to $500 a week, because all the parents were required to pay in cash.”

The charges state that Orozco collected more than $800 in benefits from March, 1988, to August, 1989.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Carvel H. Eliason declined comment on the charges.

Orozco’s day-care license was revoked by the state Department of Social Services in April. A five-month investigation concluded that Orozco had failed to take reasonable precautions that would have prevented the fire.

However, Orozco was cleared of criminal responsibility for the fire after an investigation by the Huntington Beach police and fire departments and the district attorney’s office.