Fialele Faatoia, 43, faces a single charge of theft in the second degree. The indictment was handed up by Juneau grand jury last Friday.
Prosecutors alleged that she took $11,584 in cash assistance between March 2009 and September 2010 from ATAP, or the Alaska Temporary Assistance Program.
The problem, according to prosecutors, is that an adult has a lifetime limit of sixty months of benefits that they can receive from a state or any combination of states.
After moving to Alaska, Faatoia allegedly denied receiving cash assistance anywhere else while applying for benefits. But investigators say she already exceeded the sixty-month limit in Hawaii and California.
Faatoia’s next hearing in Juneau Superior Court is July 5th.
If convicted, she faces a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
