ALBANY, N.Y. (WNYT) — A woman from Texas was sentenced to a year in prison for a scheme to steal money from student financial aid programs – including from one school in Albany.
Shelbra Long, 58, of Edinburg, Texas admitted to participating in a decade-long scheme to apply for admission and financial aid to online colleges throughout the United States. Long used the names of people who had their identities stolen, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the way the scheme worked is after the U.S. Department of Education released the money, Long and her co-conspirator withdrew the fictious student from enrollment. The school refunded the balance of the aid that had not been used to bank accounts controlled by the conspirators…