Louisiana - A Texas man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud involving insurance claims for Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.
On August 31, 2023, 44-year-old Andrew Mitchell entered a plea of guilty in front of the ad hoc Judge Kirk A. Vaughn.
Mitchell was arrested on January 12, 2023, following accusations of defrauding four residents of St. Charles Parish in Louisiana out of their insurance payments in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Since his apprehension, he has been held in custody.
Mitchell had falsely claimed that he was a public insurance adjuster, who would negotiate with insurance firms on behalf of victims of the hurricane. However, he pocketed the insurance benefits for personal use. Through this deceit, Mitchell swindled over $200,000 from his four victims.
Mitchell admitted guilt to five charges of forgery, receiving the maximum sentence of 10 years per charge. He also confessed to two instances of theft exceeding $5,000 each, earning the top sentence of 10 years for each. Additionally, he admitted guilt to two more thefts, each surpassing $25,000, earning him the highest possible sentence of 20 years for these. These sentences are all to run concurrently under the supervision of the Louisiana Department of Corrections.
Besides the prison sentence, the accused agreed to surrender nearly $39,000.00 to the victims involved in the case. The said amount was deposited into the court's registry and will now be distributed among the victims. Mr. Mitchell also agreed to a monetary verdict benefitting each victim, covering the outstanding balance of the restitution due to them.
Detective Keith Bergeron from the Insurance Fraud Division of the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation into the case involving Mitchell. Mitchell's prosecution was handled by Assistant District Attorney Mark F. Lopez.
"The case against Andrew Mitchell was a complex matter spanning multiple jurisdictions with multiple victims. LSP Detective Bergeron used his outstanding investigatory skills to present to my office a thorough and complete case file detailing Mitchell's criminal conduct. Assistant District Attorney Mark F. Lopez and DA Investigator John Cornwell have been relentless in their pursuit of a just conclusion to this case. Today Lopez secured an appropriate resolution for the victims and the people of St. Charles Parish," said District Attorney Joel T. Chaisson, II "Hurricane Ida decimated St. Charles Parish. Mitchell could have been a force for good in our community post-Ida but he chose to victimize our residents all over again for his own financial gain. My office will not tolerate the exploitation of our residents and we will continue to use all of the tools available to us to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law."