3 Joplin Residents Plead Guilty to Illegal Aid

Three Joplin, Mo., residents have admitted in federal court that they obtained disaster benefits after last year’s deadly tornado they weren’t entitled to receive.

Acting U.S. Attorney David Ketchmark says 51-year-old Wanda Gail McBride, 30-year-old Ronald Martell Irby and 37-year-old Karen Marie Parks pleaded guilty Monday in Springfield in separate, unrelated cases.

Prosecutors say all three applied for federal disaster aid by falsely claiming their homes and property had been damaged or destroyed in the May 22, 2011, tornado, which killed 162 people and damaged or destroyed about 7,500 homes.

The three are among eight people indicted in May on federal fraud charges.

Each faces maximum sentences of up to 30 years in federal prison without parole and a fine up to $250,000. No sentencing dates have been scheduled.