The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office and Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General (OSIG) have filed charges against 16 suspects who illegally received funds available due to the COVID-19 pandemic under false circumstances.

The defendants are alleged to have conspired with a former employee, Brandice Reyes-Alvarez, at Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authorities (LCHRA), to submit fraudulent applications for rental assistance. LCHRA is the public authority designated to accept and process Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) applications.

“These funds were provided by our government for the purpose of assisting the many people who suffered financial hardship as a result of the pandemic,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said. “Here, more than $280,000 was stolen by these defendants when others were truly in need.”

“The Office of State Inspector General is committed to holding accountable anyone who commits fraud, waste, or abuse of taxpayer money, whoever and wherever they are,” said State Inspector General Lucas M. Miller. “I applaud the coordination and work of the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office to ensure that those who steal public dollars are brought to justice.”

The Lancaster County ERAP was established in March 2021 to provide rental and utility payments to landlords and utility companies to keep residents housed during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Funding for the program was provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury directly to the County and by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the Department of Human Services.

LCHRA was responsible for reviewing assistance applications and the disbursement of the funds for rental assistance to tenants facing pandemic-related financial hardship.  Payments were made to landlords or directly to tenants when landlords chose not to participate.

The defendants each face a lead charge of theft by deception, a third-degree felony. Charges of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, conspiracy, identity theft, receiving stolen property, tampering with records or identification, theft by unlawful taking, and forgery have been filed in certain cases.

The investigation into the fraudulent applications began in June 2022 when a member of LCHRA contacted OSIG after uncovering several suspicious applications within ERAP.  The discovery occurred when internal procedures flagged program payments to an employee.  That application revealed inconsistent information and a phone number not associated with the landlord listed.  This phone number was identified on several other fraudulent applications. 

The investigation revealed that 16 people submitted fraudulent assistance applications containing false information that were supported by forged documents such as leases, statements of past due rent and other fraudulent documents. 

The scheme involved providing a false phone number and landlord information on the assistance application, including a landlord who had passed away in 2018.  LCHRA staff would call the number provided on the application and receive verification from the person pretending to be a landlord that they did not want to participate in the program.  As a result, the funds would be provided directly to the tenant. 

Checks were issued and sent directly to the applicant or e-deposited into bank accounts and, in several cases, investigators found that a portion of the proceeds was sent back to Reyes-Alvarez and other codefendants assisting in the scheme.

The money was claimed and received from June 2021 until August 2022 and losses total approximately $281,004.  After the discovery, the LCHRA immediately put steps into place to make sure additional fraud was flagged and no longer accepts electronic applications.  The ERAP program is ongoing, however, assistance is limited to preventing eviction. 

The 16 charged individuals with the amount of funds each allegedly received or conspired to receive are:

-Dustin Branch, 34 of the 200 block of Pennshire Drive, Lancaster - $19,500.00. Branch pleaded guilty on April 16, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and forgery and was sentenced to four years of probation.

-Alyssa Cruz, 24 of the first block of S. Wolf Street, Manheim - $18,525.00. Cruz pleaded guilty on April 9, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to three years of probation.

-Danari Garcia, 27 of the first block of Bradford Drive, Leola - $19,240.00. Garcia pleaded guilty April 15, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation.

-Danaziah Garcia, 24 of the 1800 block of Habacker Road, Columbia - $20,300.00. Garcia pleaded guilty on March 21, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities.

-Eladio Hernandez-Matos, 23 of the 300 block of Dickens Drive, Lancaster - $19,175.00. 

-Tatiana Hernandez-Matos, 25 of the 500 block of Hometowne Terrace, Lititz - $20,000.00. Hernandez-Matos pleaded guilty on April 8, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation.

-Amanda Martin, 33 of the 700 block of N. Cherry Street, Lancaster - $22,500.00. Martin pleaded guilty on April 30, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and forgery and was sentenced to three years of probation.

-Kleisy Montas-Rivera, 28 of the 100 block of Dauphin Street, Lancaster - $16,800.00. Montas-Rivera pleaded guilty on April 9, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation.

-Matthew Nelson, 36 of the first block of Bradford Drive, Leola - $17,100.00

-Marisol Reed, 46 of the 900 block of E. Orange Street, Lancaster - $21,700.00. Reed pleaded guilty April 10, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation.

-Brandice Reyes-Alvarez, 40 of the 100 block of E. Main Street, Leola - $7,730.00. Reyes-Alvarez pleaded guilty April 24, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to six to 23 months in prison followed by two years of probation and eight months on house arrest.

-Briana Robles, 29 of the first block of Ranck Avenue, Lancaster - $20,625.00. Robles pleaded guilty April 9, 2024, to theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation.

-Leonard Streeter, 35 of the 100 block of E. Main Street, Leola - $19,939.00

-Adeline White, 37 of the 300 block of Dickens Drive, Lancaster - $161,455.00. White pleaded guilty April 24, 2024, to theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation with the first year on house arrest.

-William White III, 37 of the 300 block of Dickens Drive, Lancaster - $18,850.00

-William White Jr., 63 of the 600 block of New Green Street, Lancaster - $19,250.00. White Jr. pleaded guilty April 9, 2024, to charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities and was sentenced to four years of probation.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

DA Adams and our office thank OSIG for its thorough investigation into this matter.

PA OSIG Special Agent Carolina Vega and Lancaster County Detective Brendan McAnally filed charges, which were approved by Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.