Siblings Plead Guilty for Receiving Payment from Federally-Funded Organization for Work Not Done

COEUR D’ALENE –Amber Annette Hosking, 39, and Jessica Fay Barnes, 32, sisters, from Spokane Valley, Washington, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit federal program theft, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.

According to court records, from 2015 to February 2018, both women conspired with an unnamed agent of the North Idaho Housing Coalition to commit federal program theft.  The conspiracy involved the sisters receiving money from the Coalition after an agent for the Coalition submitted false bills for work never performed.  The Coalition’s agent, knowing the bills were false, still paid the sisters from the Coalition’s bank accounts.  The sisters knew the bills submitted to the Coalition were false.  Hosking agreed to forfeit at least $16,500 obtained from the crime, while Barnes agreed to forfeit at least $15,000 obtained from her part in the crime.

Hosking and Barnes’ sentencings are set for January 29, 2019 before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.  Each faces a maximum punishment of up to five years imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Davis commended the collaborative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the City of Coeur d’Alene Police Department, the Kootenai County Prosecutors Office and his office staff.  “We are always at our strongest when we work together for the good of the public we serve,” said Davis.

This case was worked collaboratively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Coeur d’Alene Police Department.