WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A D.C. man and repeat offender was sentenced to prison Thursday for defrauding a rental housing assistance program of tens of thousands of dollars and for owning a gun.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Columbia announced that 71-year-old Geary Simon was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Simon defrauded the Stronger Together by Assisting You D.C. (STAY DC) program out of more than $38,000. The taxpayer-funded program was set to give tenants help with covering housing and utility bills after a loss of income during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Court documents said Simon applied to the program in June 2021. In the application, he posed as a tenant who was renting a property on H Street NW. On his application, Simon said that he owed his landlord, “Robert Sutton,” $72,000 in overdue rent…