THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

United States Attorney John M. Bales

NEWS

TYLER, Texas – A 32-year-old Flint, Texas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Mindy Ritch pleaded guilty on May 5, 2014, to student financial aid fraud and was sentenced to 54 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider. Ritch was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $564,447.72.

According to information presented in court, from January 2010 to February 2013, Ritch fraudulently obtained funds from the Federal Pell Grant Program and the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program to which she was not entitled. Ritch was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 26, 2013.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Education – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Tyler Junior College Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld prosecuted this case.