Woman steals thousands from ATM

A Destrehan woman with $600 in her credit union account took advantage of a software glitch to steal more than $14,000 with her ATM card in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Wednesday.

Shelita Grandpre, 32, pleaded guilty to bank larceny charges in U.S. Eastern District Court last week after admitting that she knowingly spent the money after discovering a software glitch in the ASI Federal Credit Union's ATM software that allowed customers to withdraw unlimited amounts of cash and make unlimited purchases with their debit cards.

Five other ASI members have pleaded guilty to similar charges. The Elmwood-based credit union has 14 branches in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Charles, Lafourche and Evangeline parishes.

Audrey Cerise, ASI's chief executive officer, said credit union officers discovered the glitch three days after the storm after the institution transferred its operations to another company when the power failed at its Jefferson Parish headquarters.

"We had a choice. We could have cut off ATM services for all of our members, or we could take the chance on losing some money," she said.

Many of the credit union's members who evacuated from the storm took advantage of the glitch and withdrew more than they had in their accounts. But the vast majority repaid the money after the storm, Cerise said.

"Our faith was not misplaced," Cerise said.

Cerise said many who withdrew more than they had thanked her employees for letting them make overdrafts in the weeks after the storm.

"I don't know that I wouldn't have done the same thing in their shoes," she said. "They didn't have money for food. They didn't have money for gas."

Cerise said the credit union has moved to avoid repeating the problem by mirroring its computerized transactions at its Ville Platte branch, rather than using an outside vendor.

According to Grandpre's guilty plea, she made withdrawals and purchases totaling $14,056.21 in the Monroe, Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas between Aug. 30, 2005, and Sept. 17, 2005. She admitted to FBI agents that she knowingly overdrafted her account, Letten said.

Grandpre pleaded guilty to bank larceny and could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for March 6 before U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey.

Others who have pleaded guilty on similar charges, along with the amount they are accused of overdrafting, are Renesha Brown of New Orleans, $8,483; Chassity Deshone Hulbert Irving of New Orleans, $18,334; Michelle Taylor of New Orleans, $7,488; Charlotte J. Whitley of Gretna, $8,024; and her daughter, Graylyn Whitley of New Orleans, $7,943. The defendants are set to be sentenced early next year.

More cases are pending, Letten said.

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Matt Scallan may be reached at mscallan@timespicayune.com or (985) 652-0953.