![2 Women Charged With Public Assistance Fraud](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2016/04/gavel.jpg?w=300&h=200&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
2 Women Charged With Public Assistance Fraud
ST. JAMES (AP) — Prosecutors have charged two St. James women with public assistance fraud.
36-year-old Erika Yolanda Gonzalez has been charged with felony wrongfully obtaining assistance and six felony counts of public assistance declaration violation. According to a criminal complaint, she received food support and medical assistance since 2011 without indicating that her husband was working, collecting $15,551 in overpayments.
Forty-two-year-old Heidi Joann Lowery faces the same charges. According to a criminal complaint, she failed to disclose that her ex-husband was living with her and working. She received $13,169 in assistance to which she wasn't entitled.
Gonzalez declined comment when reached by phone Monday. A voicemail left at a possible listing for Lowery wasn't immediately returned.
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