A woman was sentenced to fourteen years in federal prison on Thursday for embezzling over $141,000 in benefits from veterans.
Cornelia V. Hurling was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge David A. Ezra in San Antonio after she pleaded guilty to the felony of misappropriation by a Veterans Affairs fiduciary. Hurling was a resident of San Antonio.
The 58-year-old woman worked as a fiduciary for Veterans Affairs (VA) and had the responsibility of receiving and managing money for the benefit of veterans who were incompetent or incapable of handling their own affairs.
As a VA fiduciary, the San Antonio woman was responsible for taking care of the financial affairs of at least 22 veterans who had either been deemed by a court to be incompetent, or who were otherwise incapable of handling their own finances.
Hurling misappropriated approximately $141,734.22 in funds from these veterans during the time period of January 2008 and September 2013.
The violation of Title 38, United States Code, section 6101 is a felony. She was indicted by a grand jury in early March of 2015.
In addition to her sentence, Judge Ezra also ordered Hurling to pay the full amount in restitution for the funds she had misappropriated.
After Hurling serves her sentence in federal prison, she will be placed on supervised release for a period of three years.
The judge ordered the Bureau of Prisons to place her in a federal facility that would accommodate her medical needs. The order of imprisonment did not state what medical needs the defendant was allegedly suffering from.
She received credit for time served while in custody.
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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