Lansing State Journal

The last of seven people charged with stealing money from a fund set up to aid the women and girls who were sexually abused by disgraced Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced this week in Ingham County Circuit Court.

Maxann Reese pleaded no contest in September to one count of false pretenses over $20,000 for obtaining funds from the MSU Healing Assistance Fund. Seven other charges were dismissed.

As part of a plea deal, Reese did not face jail time and was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Rosemarie Aquilina to probation and $191,198 in restitution, as well as various fines and court costs.

Reese, who played basketball at MSU from 1996 to 2000 and played in the WNBA, faced seven counts of false pretenses for $20,000 or more and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.

In all, the seven people charged were accused of fraudulently receiving more than $527,000 from the fund.

The fraudulent claims led MSU to close the $10 million Healing Assistance Fund, which existed to cover out-of-pocket counseling and medical expenses incurred by Nassar survivors, their spouses, parents or guardians seeking medical and therapy treatments, in July 2018. The fund was originally set up in December 2017. It reopened in September 2019.

All seven defendants were offered the same plea: three years of probation and no jail time as long as they paid restitution to the university fund. The defendants face up to a year in jail if they don't...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMijwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5sYW5zaW5nc...