Lithonia Woman Sentenced In HUD Defraud Scheme

ATLANTA - A Lithonia woman has been sentenced for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds intended for housing for disabled women and their children. Janice Cooks, 53, used the HUD grants on personal expenses like travel, dining out, and shopping. As a result of her scheme, several families she was supposed to provide housing for received eviction notices and were forced to find other places to live.

From 2012-15, HUD awarded Cooks three grants to fund the Quilt SOLE program to provide housing for disabled women and children. HUD approved funds for the Quilt SOLE to rent 14 apartments, thus providing housing for 14 disabled women and their children. Cooks failed to adhere to the budget she created and to follow the program’s rules. In 2012, she requested and received approximately $125,000 in HUD funds. Instead of spending those funds on Quilt SOLE, she transferred over $59,000 into her own personal savings account.

Despite receiving funding for only 14 apartments, Cooks rented between 22 and 24 apartments at the same apartment complex.

Cooks has been sentenced to four months in prison and eight months of home confinement to be followed by three years supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment, and pay restitution of $198,000 to HUD and $35,000 to Ashley Cascade Apartments.