WLNS — LANSING, Mich. A Westland lady pled No Contest Friday to one count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise and eight counts of False Pretenses for cheating the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Michigan Department of Treasury out of approximately $500,000.
In the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County, Sophia Quill, 63, entered her plea before Judge Anne McCarthy, according to a news release issued by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Friday.
As part of the plea deal, Quill will serve a sentence ranging from 6.5 to 20 years in jail. Quill consented to pay $470,000 in reparations to the Michigan Treasury and the VA.
According to Nessel, the Michigan AG worked with the Office of Inspector General and the VA on the enforcement operation.
According to the AG, Quill and co-defendant Melissa Flores stole more than $430,000 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and more than $40,000 from the Michigan Department of Treasury between 2013 and 2019.
To make themselves appear as heirs to several deceased, benefit-earning U.S. veterans and heirs entitled to unclaimed money from the Michigan Department of Treasury, Quill and Flores established aliases and bogus paperwork.
The AG claimed that Quill’s adult son Steven Decker also benefited financially from the scam. Both Flores and Decker have been found guilty, given sentences, and mandated to make restitution of $110,000 and $28,506, respectively.