Fraudster Who Used Phony Address To Get FEMA Wildfire Aid Sentenced To Prison: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — An Arizona woman was sentenced to federal prison Monday for falsely claiming she lost her house in the Eaton Fire in order to get cash and free hotel stays as part of disaster aid benefits.

Katrina Woods, 33, of Maricopa, Arizona, pleaded guilty in October to one felony count of fraud in connection to a major disaster or emergency benefits. On Monday, she was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay $23,441 in restitution to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

FEMA made financial assistance available to those impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fires, including immediate $750 payments — and grants for much larger amounts. Residents could qualify for up to $43,600 for personal items, transportation, medical needs and housing, and homeowners qualified for up to $43,600 to repair their homes.

Woods in January 2025 submitted a claim for disaster assistance using an Altadena address, which she claimed was her primary residence that was destroyed in the Eaton Fire that month. Authorities later discovered her claim was fraudulent — and that the address didn't even exist, according to prosecutors.

"At the time of the California wildfires, defendant resided in the district of Arizona, defendant did not reside at or rent the 2060 North Lake Avenue residence, and, in fact, there was no property, no dwelling, no address of 2060 North Lake Avenue in Altadena," reads a court document obtained by Patch.

As proof of her claim that she lived at the property, she submitted a utility bill and bank statement that were altered to list the Altadena address, prosectors said.

FEMA disbursed $16,947 in disaster relief to Woods. She also took advantage of a FEMA program that booked hotel stays for fire survivors after their homes were destroyed: The agency paid for her to stay in a hotel in downtown Los Angeles and anotehr in Hawthorne in February and March of that year, prosecutors said.

"This is not defendant's first and only encounter with law enforcement; she has multiple prior arrests and has sustained convictions" for receiving stolen property, making a false representation, violating probation, possession of a forgery device, and taking the identity of another, according to the government's sentencing papers.

In a letter to Judge Percy Anderson, Woods asked for "mercy" ahead of her sentencing. She wrote that her 8-year-old son was killed at some point in the past, leading to her and her other children to suffer trauma.

I was in such a state of shock that I could barely function, my bills piled up, I hadn’t checked the mail, and I was being evicted. During that time, I made poor decisions while trying desperately to provide safety and stability for my family," she wrote.

Woods was one of several people accused of similar crimes in relation to federal aid following the Eaton and Palisades fires.

City News Service contributed to this report.