Former Morgan City Housing Authority director, employees arraigned on theft, conspiracy charges

The former Morgan City Housing Authority director and two current housing authority employees were arraigned Wednesday in federal court on charges related to theft of half a million dollars, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley said in a news release.
Former Morgan City Housing Authority Executive Director Charles E. Spann, 78, of Kingsport, Tennessee, and current housing authority employees Diana L. Pace, 64, and Sandra L. Greene, 59, both of Morgan City, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol B. Whitehurst.
The fourth defendant, for-mer housing manager Tori D. Johnson, 38, of Morgan City, is scheduled to be arraigned March 31.
The grand jury returned the 15-count indictment Feb. 18. Count one is conspiracy to defraud the United States, and the other 14 counts are for theft of government money.
Spann served as executive director from April 2007 until June 2013, when he resigned. Johnson resigned before Spann did, The Daily Review reported in June 2013.
Pace, an accounting tech, and Greene, a housing man-ager, are both still employed with the housing authority, Morgan City Housing Au-thority Executive Director Clarence Robinson said this morning.
Robinson did not want to comment any further on the arraignments, he said.
According to the indict-ment, Spann, Pace, Greene, Johnson and others, are alleged to have received more than $500,000 in bonus payments to which they were not entitled from 2007 to 2013.
If convicted, the defendants face five years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years in prison for each count of theft of government money. They also face three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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.