A Texas woman who pleaded guilty to charges of stealing nearly $109 million from a youth development program for children of military families and using it to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included multiple mansions, a fleet of luxury cars and designer accessories was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison. Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, was sentenced by US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez after pleading guilty in March to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing a false tax return. Prosecutors say Mello, a civilian employee at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, stole the money and used it to purchase one lavish item after another, including $923,000 of jewelry in a single day in 2022.
Mello was a financial manager who handled funding for a youth program at the military base and determined whether grant money was available. She created a fraudulent group called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development, prosecutors said. “Janet Mello betrayed the trust of the government agency she served and repeatedly lied in an effort to enrich herself,” said US Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.
“Rather than $109 million in federal funds going to the care of military children throughout the world, she selfishly stole that money to buy extravagant houses, more than 80 vehicles and over 1,500 pieces of jewelry,” Esparza said. Defense attorney Albert Flores said Mello is deeply remorseful. “She realizes she committed a crime, she did wrong a.