BW woman sentenced to prison for bilking VA

COLUMBIA –  Tammy L. Yoho, a/k/a “Tammy Louise Black,” 54, of Blythewood has been sentenced to over three years in federal prison for theft of government funds through fraudulent use of her husband’s VA benefits.

Evidence presented to the court showed that in 2002, Yoho entered an agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to act as the fiduciary for her husband after he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

In 2011, Yoho began a relationship with another man, whom she began living with in 2013, court records show. Yoho used her husband’s VA benefits for personal expenses, including spending large amounts at a casino in Las Vegas. In 2014, she forged her husband’s name on a power of attorney form so she could obtain a VA loan to purchase a large house in Blythewood.

In October 2015, her husband was found dead in their marital home in North Carolina. The utilities had been shut off and the residence was in foreclosure for lack of payments. Yoho—who was still living with another man in Blythewood—subsequently filed for additional VA benefits claiming to have continuously lived with her husband until he died.

United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Yoho to 37 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of court-ordered supervision. Yoho was also ordered to pay $47,730.34 in restitution to the Department of Veterans affairs.

United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon prosecuted the case.

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