Woman sentenced for day care fraud



Ongoing Journal Sentinel investigation details how parents and child-care providers work in cahoots to easily scam the $350 million Wisconsin Shares program. Read the series and ongoing coverage* Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting
A woman convicted of defrauding Wisconsin's day care subsidy program has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, and ordered to repay the state $355,000.
Angela Stott, 44, of Elkhorn must also serve five years of extended supervision after she completes the prison term. Circuit Judge David Hansher ordered she pay $150 a month toward the restitution during her extended supervision. A jury convicted Stott last month of two counts of theft by false representation.
Stott held the license for Little Angel Academy, 3416 N Port Washington Road, which was suspended from the Wisconsin Shares program in February 2010 by the state Department of Children and Families. It was one of dozens of operations involving payments for children who rarely or never attended the centers.
State regulators and lawmakers launched sweeping reforms to the $350 million state program in 2009 after a Journal Sentinel investigation exposed widespread fraud and shoddy oversight. The newspaper's series of reports, Cashing in on Kids, won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.
Another convicted day care operator was ordered to pay $83,314 in restitution this week.
Christina Mitchell, 31, who owned Christina's Child Care and Development Center, 3511 W. Lisbon Ave., was convicted in August of one count of theft, misrepresentation, and sentenced last month to two years in prison, followed by four years of extended supervision.
On Thursday Hansher ordered that Mitchell repay the state $150 a month during her extended supervision.
Mitchell was accused of billing the state for children not in her care. She reported running second and third shifts at her center, but investigators found no children were actually there, according to a criminal complaint.
Mitchell had reported to the state that she was caring for between 14 and 17 children past 9 p.m. The fraud occurred from January 2008 to April 2009, according to the complaint.
Mitchell collected more than $2 million in Wisconsin Shares payments since January 2006 and filed for bankruptcy in January 2008.

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