An Arizona woman was sentenced Monday in downtown Los Angeles to one year behind bars for having submitted a fraudulent claim for wildfire relief funds, listing a nonexistent Altadena address as her primary residence that she claimed was destroyed in the Eaton Fire.
Katrina Woods, 33, of Maricopa, Arizona, received more than $23,000 in disaster relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency based on her false claims. She also made reservations through FEMA to stay at two hotels — one in downtown Los Angeles, the other in Hawthorne — during February and March of 2025, paid for by the government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Along with the prison term, Woods was ordered by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson to pay $23,441 in restitution to FEMA.
Woods pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court in October 2025 to one count of fraud in connection with a major disaster or emergency benefits.
“This is not defendant’s first and only encounter with law enforcement; she has multiple prior arrests and has sustained convictions” for receiving stolen property, making a false representation, violating probation, possession of a forgery device, and taking the identity of another, according to the government’s sentencing papers.
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles charged Woods with FEMA fraud in April 2025 after an investigation revealed she falsely claimed her Altadena home burned down in the Eaton Fire.
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