LITTLE ROCK, Ark – Four sisters, all over 70 years old, pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges after prosecutors said they defrauded the government, spending $11.5 million meant for farmers facing discrimination on homes and cars.
The four, 72-year-old Lynda Charles of Hot Springs; 74-year-old Rosie Bryant of Colleyville, Texas; 75-year-old Delois Bryant of North Little Rock; and 72-year-old Brenda Sherpell of Gainesville, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. Sentencing will take place later.
The $11.5 million was money which had been intended to benefit farmers who had been discriminated against as part of a program from the United States Department of Agriculture. The four admitted in court that, from 2008 through 2017 they solicited people to file false claims of discrimination when they applied for USDA assistance for their farming operation.
Two additional defendants, Niki Charles, the daughter of Lynda Charles, and Everett Martindale, an attorney who acted as the legal representative of most of those who were recruited by the sisters and made the false claims, are set for trial August 30.
In admitting their crime, the sisters told the court they had hired a tax preparer to falsify tax returns, resulting in failure to report over $4.6 million to the Internal Revenue Service. That tax preparer, Jerry Green, pleaded guilty in January 2021.
The sisters admitted having submitted claims related to two...
WASHINGTON (TNND) — FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with a Democratic lawmaker Tuesday during a Senate subcommittee budget hearing, forcefully denying allegations that he drinks excessively on the...