Sentencing in Oil Spill Fraud Case Postponed

June 14, 2012

A federal judge has agreed to postpone a sentencing hearing for a woman who pleaded guilty to submitting a fraudulent claim for money from BP’s oil spill compensation fund.

Rokeisha Barrios was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance agreed to delay the hearing until July 25. Barrios’ attorney is out of the state until June 24.

Her husband, former New Orleans police officer Robert Barrios, pleaded guilty in 2010 in an unrelated case to helping cover up deadly shootings on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina.

Prosecutors say Rokeisha Barrios received separate payments of $22,600 and $11,307 from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility after falsely claiming her husband lost income as a fisherman and hotel employee following the Gulf oil spill in 2010.