8/14/2021- 1:30 p.m.
California – Justin Daly was sentenced to nine months in jail and ordered to pay $27,489.96 in restitution for falsely claiming his home was destroyed in the devastating Tubbs Fire of 2017, court records show.
Daly was charged in late 2019. He pleaded guilty to disaster benefits fraud and making false statements to a government agency in March, He was charged in late 2019. He pleaded guilty to disaster benefits fraud and making false statements to a government agency in March.
Prosecutors say that after falsely claiming his home was one more than 5,600 structures claimed by the Sonoma County fire.
Daly’s lawyer blamed the offense on an addiction to methamphetamine but said in a sentencing brief he is turning his life around.
“This crime was not a momentary lapse while in a state of intoxication … Even with a severe addiction, Mr. Daly could not have smoked anywhere near that much meth,” assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rubino wrote in court records.
Prosecutors asked for an 18-month prison term, writing that Daly planned and carried out his crime over several months.
