*A West Virginia woman who was fired from her job in 2016 after calling former First Lady Michelle Obama an “ape in heels” in a racist Facebook post was sentenced to prison last week for embezzling more than $18,000 in FEMA disaster benefits.
Pamela Taylor was hit with a 10 month-sentence in federal prison and a $10,000 fine, WSAZ-3 reports. Earlier this year, Taylor admitted to stealing more than $18,000 in flood relief aid by falsely registering for FEMA benefits after the June 2016 floods that killed more than 20 in West Virginia.
As we previously reported, Taylor claimed her primary residence was damaged in the flood and that she was staying in a rental property, the prosecutor’s office said. Here’s the truth: home was not damaged and she still lived there.
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WATCH: Former Clay County official Pamela Taylor (white top with pink purse) enters federal court in Charleston for her sentencing in an embezzlement case. https://t.co/iaLVEOaFT1 pic.twitter.com/1U2zx54Rxd
— Eyewitness News (@wchs8fox11) May 30, 2019
“The flood was a natural disaster. Stealing from FEMA is a man-made disaster,” U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said in a news release. “The floods of June 2016 were historic and devastating to thousands of West Virginians. Lives were lost. Too many of our brothers and sisters lost everything. FEMA dollars are critical but limited. Stealing critical FEMA dollars is a crime – literally and figuratively. Taylor’s fraud scheme diverted disaster benefits from our most desperate and vulnerable, those most in need of help.””
Taylor posted a controversial comment about Obama following Donald Trump’s presidential win that said:”It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a Ape in heels.”
Taylor was fired from her job as director of the Clay County Development Corporation after the November 2016 post, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. But she was secretly rehired weeks later.
In her plea agreement, she must pay restitution of over $18,000. Following her release from prison, Taylor will be confined to her home for the first two months.
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