WESTCHESTER : Woman Gets Jail for Bid to Skip Community Service
A Westchester businesswoman who falsified documents to avoid performing court-ordered community service was sentenced to 60 days in jail, City Atty. James K. Hahn said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Municipal Judge Veronica S. McBeth gave Ionie Albertha Richmond, 42, the choice of serving the time in jail or on a Caltrans work crew.
Richmond had been fined $1,000, placed on three years probation and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service after she pleaded guilty in January to grand theft.
Prosecutors said she submitted false information about her assets and employment to qualify for $30,833 in housing assistance from the city Housing Authority. As part of her sentence, she also was ordered to repay the money.
Richmond later submitted timekeeping documents showing she had completed the 300 hours of community service by doing clerical work at West Los Angeles College. But Deputy City Atty. Deborah Sanchez reviewed the documents and became suspicious after noticing that the name of the person who verified the time sheet was the same as a name on the Housing Authority application.
Sanchez called the college and learned that Richmond had never done any work there, Hahn said. The signature turned out to be that of Richmond’s son.
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