Woman Sentenced in 9-11 Fund Fraud

A woman accused of collecting about $64,000 in Sept. 11 relief funds by inventing a brother and reporting him missing after the terrorist attacks was sentenced Thursday to nearly two years in prison.

Sept. 25, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A woman accused of collecting about $64,000 in Sept. 11 relief funds by inventing a brother and reporting him missing after the terrorist attacks was sentenced Thursday to nearly two years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey ordered Cassaundrea E. Montgomery to repay the money, calling her acts ``heinous'' and ``twisted.''

Montgomery, 42, told police her brother had gone to the World Trade Center to apply for a job on Sept. 11 shortly before the twin towers were destroyed.

She pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, the maximum under federal guidelines.