Tracie Medus, Theft of Government Funds, Louisiana 2011

A New Orleans Police Officer has been charged with stealing nearly $160,000 from the Road Home Program.

Tracie Medus, 39, was charged yesterday with theft of government funds, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite.

Medus, a New Orleans Police Department police officer, has been placed on unpaid emergency suspension pending the outcome of the case, the New Orleans Police Department said.

According to the Bill of Information, Medus stole $158,700 from the Louisiana Road Home’s Small Rental Property Program from July 2009 to March 2011. The funds were obtained in the form of an award funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

If convicted, Medus faces up to ten years incarceration and a fine of up to twice the theft amount.

U.S. Attorney Polite reiterated that a Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Policite praised the work of the Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter and thanked the New Orleans Police Department’s Public Integrity Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division for their assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon is in charge of the prosecution.