Man accused of spending money mother stole from Veterans Affairs, Michigan Treasury pleads no contest

WYANDOTTE, Mich. (FOX 2) – A person accused of spending cash that authorities say he knew his mom stole from Veterans Affairs and the Michigan Treasury pleaded no contest, Lawyer Basic Dana Nessel mentioned Tuesday.

Stephen Decker, 34, of Wyandotte, entered the plea for 2 counts of receiving stolen property within the quantity of $1,000-$20,000.

He additionally agreed to a restitution order of $28,506.

Authorities allege that Decker’s mom, Sophia Quill, labored with one other lady, Melissa Flores, to steal $470,000 from the Michigan Division of Treasury and U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs between 2013 and 2019. Decker allegedly obtained proceeds from the scheme and used a number of the cash to hide property used to conduct the fraud.

Flores is presently in jail and was ordered to pay $110,000 restitution.

Quill, who presently lives in Florida, was beforehand charged with conducting a prison enterprise, 4 counts of false pretenses $50,000-$100,000, two counts of false pretenses $20,000-$50,000, and two counts of false pretenses $1,000-$20,000. Nessel’s workplace plans to request extradition again to Michigan.

“Defrauding public businesses, veterans, and their households won’t be tolerated,” Nessel mentioned. “This plea not solely holds a responsible get together accountable however can even assist the important veteran useful resource departments recoup a number of the funds that have been taken.”