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- A Washington County pleaded guilty to stealing $150,000 in veteran benefits Monday in federal court.
- She admitted to wire fraud and theft of government funds from 2018 to 2022.
- As part of a plea deal, prosecutors will recommend no prison time, three years of probation, and restitution to the veteran and VA.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Washington County woman has pleaded guilty to stealing $150,000 in veteran's disability benefit payments over years.
Tiffany Ann Bright, 39, was charged in March with two counts of wire fraud, theft of government property, and making false statements to the government.
Bright pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and theft of government funds. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend no prison time, three years of probation, and restitution of almost $150,000 paid to the veteran and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to court documents, Bright dated and lived with an Army veteran from 2012 to 2021. The veteran had previously served in active duty from 2008 to 2012.
In 2013, Bright helped the man "apply for service-connected disability benefits and set him up with an online benefits account," a court detention filing request says.
"Between December 2013 and April 2022, other than a small five-month window, all the veteran benefits were deposited into accounts owned wholly by Ms. Bright," according to the filing. Bright only pleaded guilty to taking the man's money from January 2018 to May 2022.
Bright submitted fake documents over the same time period, falsely claiming she married and later divorced the man to increase the monthly payments, the indictment says.
In 2022, the veteran got a letter notifying him of changes to his account, but he had "had no idea benefits were being paid," according to the detention request, assuming those payments had been going toward student loans.
He called to change his banking information, but "over the course of two weeks, his direct deposit account information was changed no less than eight times," court documents say. "Phone calls would change the direct deposit account to the veteran's bank and online changes would change it back to bank accounts owned by Ms. Bright."
The defense will suggest that Bright pays over $26,500 to the VA and $123,435.73 to the victim, per the plea agreement.
Bright faces sentencing in federal court on Jan. 14.
