FAYETTEVILLE -- A judge on Tuesday sentenced a Lincoln woman to prison on federal charges of stealing the benefit checks of a deceased man who was once in her care.
Jamie Lee Cianflone, 48, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in April to one count of theft of government funds. Last year, she pleaded guilty to trying to hire a hit man to kill her estranged husband.
Cianflone was hired as a personal care assistant for Apolinar Valdes in January 2011 by the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Arkansas, according to court documents. Valdes died in May 2012, but his Social Security checks continued to be deposited in his bank account by direct deposit. Cianflone was a joint account holder.
The checks were deposited until the Social Security Administration learned of Valdes' death. The last check was deposited in July 2014.
Court documents say Cianflone wrote checks on the account for various personal purchases. Cianflone took $24,461, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks sentenced her to seven months in prison and three years of probation and ordered her to pay restitution. She was ordered to submit to a mental-health evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment. Cianflone will not be allowed to open a bank account without permission of probation officers.
In November, Cianflone pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to a charge of solicitation to commit capital murder. She was arrested on that charge in September 2014.
Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay sentenced Cianflone to 30 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 20 years suspended. She was given credit for 403 days of jail time served.
Cianflone thought she was hiring a hit man to kill her estranged husband, who lives in Florida, but the man was an undercover detective who was wearing a recording device, according to an arrest report.
State Desk on 07/20/2016