Flint Woman Sentenced to Prison for Student Financial Aid Fraud

TYLER � A 32-year-old Flint woman has been sentenced to 54 months in federal prison for student financial aid fraud. Mindy Ritch pleaded guilty May 5 and was sentenced yesterday in Tyler by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider. Ritch was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $564,447.72.

According to information presented in court, from January 2010 to February 2013, Ritch fraudulently obtained funds from the Federal Pell Grant Program and the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program to which she was not entitled. Ritch was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 26, 2013. The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Education � Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Tyler Junior College Police Department.