Marine’s wife gets probation over phony rental receipts

A federal judge sentenced the wife of a Kaneohe Marine to three years of probation Monday for submitting fraudulent rent and lease documents so her husband could collect nearly $5,000 in allowances to which he was not entitled.

Marine Base officials took the case to a federal grand jury to secure charges against Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Cameron and his wife, Sharnell R. Cameron.

The indictment charged each of the Camerons with conspiring to defraud the government and two counts of making false temporary lodging allowance (TLA) claims.

Military service members who are authorized to move their families with them on transfers outside the continental U.S. are eligible for TLA. The allowance reimburses them for hotel, meal and incidental expenses that they and their families incur while awaiting permanent housing.

The Marines accused the Camerons of plotting to continue to collect temporary lodging allowance even after they had secured permanent housing and of submitting false TLA claims.

Just before both Camerons went to trial in October, Sharnell Cameron pleaded guilty to making one of the two false claim charges. During trial, she testified that she submitted a phony lease agreement and false hotel receipts with both false claims without her husband’s knowledge using his power of attorney. She said she wanted the extra money because she and her husband were behind on the mortgage for their property in New York because their tenants had stopped paying rent.

The jury found her guilty of the second false claim charge but not guilty of conspiracy. The jurors found Stephen Cameron not guilty of all charges.

At sentencing Monday, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright told Sharnell Cameron, 34, that he considered sending her to jail "because it was such a blatant defrauding of the government," but decided to give her a break and the benefit of the doubt that she made a mistake.

Seabright also ordered her to perform 50 hours of community service.

Marine prosecutor Capt. Joseph Hamar told Seabright that Cameron has repaid the government $4,925 it paid because of her false claims.