Tag Archives: Federal Emergency Management Agency

FEMA Worker Sentenced To Five Years For Identity Theft

Or – How Many Fraud Convictions Does It Take To Prevent Being hired at FEMA?

By Washington Post Staff Writer Del Quentin Wilber, dated 12/6/08:

Judge Imposes 5-Year Term for ‘Lowdown’ Scam,

A former employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was sentenced yesterday to more than five years in federal prison for stealing the identities of 200 people, some of them disaster victims.

In April, Robert W. Davis, 44, of Southeast Washington pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a four-year scheme that ended in November 2007. Prosecutors said Davis used the identities to purchase items ranging from diamond watches and other jewelry to steaks and lobsters.

Davis stole identities while working at mortgage companies and as a human resource specialist at FEMA, authorities said. About 30 stolen identities belonged to people trying to get disaster assistance, federal prosecutors said.

– snip –

[Judge] Walton said that while he understood Davis had a difficult childhood, he noted that he had been convicted four previous times of theft and fraud. He also pointed out that Davis wasn’t using the lines of credit just to finance a drug habit. “That wasn’t about drugs,” Walton said. “That was about living good.”

Thanks to Sonya Geiger at the Disaster Accountability Project for spotting this one.

Popular Logistics' Recommendations for Surgeon General, Secretary of Homeland Security, and FEMA Chief

Popular Logistics recommends that President Obama appoint Dr. Irwin Redlener as Surgeon General, William Bratton as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Paul Maniscalco as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We know all three to be men of intelligence and integrity. All three have strong records of leadership and delivering excellent service. Dr. Redlener and Chiefs Maniscalco and Bratton set a standard against which any nominee could be measured.

We urge that in regard to positions with national responsibility for disaster preparedness, comparison with the outgoing administration’s appointees – some with no experience at all – is useless. We’ve identified three experts with decades of experience taking responsibility for creating services where none existed, making dysfunctional systems work, and leading adequate organizations to excellence. We have no reservation entrusting our safety and welfare to any of them; indeed, we’re confident that, if appointed, America’s disaster and health prospects will be substantially improved.

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Artist creates solar/wind powered "emergency respond

(Via Inhabitat) Which may, in fact, exceed FEMA’s exertions – despite the fact that, as Paul Villinski, a New York-based artist has demonstrated, it’s entirely possible to construct livable/usable emergency structures which rely on solar and wind power. From Bridget Steffen at Inhabitat, Solar Powered Mobile Emergency Response Studio:

Better yet, make sure you read the whole piece and see the images – the one above the jump, taken alone, doesn’t do it justice.NB: as of this writing – October 30th – Villinski’s bandwidth limit had been exceeded. Waiting and checking back later will, we think, be worth it.

Villinski – main site.

Emergency Response Studio.

Other coverage.