AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas woman who stole nearly $109 million from a grant program intended to provide services for military children and families to fund her lavish lifestyle was sentenced Tuesday to federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, was sentenced to 15 years in federal court in San Antonio, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said in a news release. According to a criminal court docket, Mello pleaded guilty in March to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing a false tax return for a scheme that went undetected by the U.S. Army for six years.
Mello was a civilian employee for the Army and worked as a child, youth, and school services financial program manager for the Army Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, court documents showed. As part of her job, Mello determined whether funds were available for various entities that applied to the 4-H Military Partnership Grant program.
She formed a business called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development, which Mello used to illicitly obtain grant funds from the military grant program, according to court documents. Prosecutors said Mello used the fraudulent business to apply for over 40 grants through the program from around December 2016 through at least August 2023.
Mello then spent the funds received by Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development on various personal items, including high-end jewelry, clothing,…
