Former Morgan City Housing Authority director, employee plead guilty to conspiracy charge

A former Morgan City Housing Authority director and another former employee pleaded guilty Friday to charges related to theft of over $500,000, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley said in a news release.
Former Housing Authority Executive Director Charles E. Spann, 78, of Kingsport, Tennessee, and former housing manager Tori D. Johnson, 38, of Morgan City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol B. Whitehurst to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter.
According to the guilty plea, Spann, Johnson and two other Morgan City Housing Authority employees received $514,764.14 in bonus payments to which they were not entitled from 2007 to 2013. In 2007, a one-time bonus for work performed in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita was granted, Finley said.
After the one-time bonuses were sent to all employees of the housing authority, Johnson requested from Spann that she, Spann and two other employees, accounting tech Diana L. Pace, 64, and housing manager Sandra L. Greene, 59, both of Morgan City, continue to receive bonuses. Johnson wrote false justifications for the bonuses and Spann signed off on them, Finley said. The bonuses were not approved by the civil service board or the Morgan City Housing Authority Board of Directors. Span received $111,657.47, and Johnson received $100,040.23 to which they were not entitled, Finley said.
Spann and Johnson face five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution. A sentencing date of June 27 was set for Spann and Johnson. The U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Investigations, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly P. Uebinger and Robert F. Moore are prosecuting the case.
On Feb. 18, a federal grand jury also indicted Pace and Greene on one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and 14 counts of theft of government money.Both Pace and Greene pleaded not guilty to the charges March 16. They are still employed by the housing authority but have been suspended from work without pay pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings against them.