LAFAYETTE – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Lafayette man was sentenced Monday to 57 months in prison for stealing approximately $1.5 million from an insurance settlement his sister received while she was incapacitated.
Kevin Ralph Andrus, 37, of Lafayette, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on one count of wire fraud. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and must pay $1,449,999.37 in restitution. According to the March 17, 2016 guilty plea, Andrus, after being appointed as the curator for his sister’s estate when an automobile accident left her incapacitated and unable to manager her own affairs, stole almost $1.5 million in settlement funds his sister received from a lawsuit related to the automobile accident. After partially recovering from her injuries, Andrus’ sister discovered that settlement funds had been transferred to the defendant’s own personal and business accounts, and squandered, even though he took an oath to spend the money only on approved expenses for the benefit of his sister.
The U.S. Secret Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Myers P. Namie and David C. Joseph prosecuted the case.
--DOJ Western District of Louisiana