A Texas woman who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $109 million from a youth development program for children of military families and using it to fund a lavish lifestyle that included multiple mansions, a luxury vehicle and designer accessories was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison.
Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, pleaded guilty in March to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing false tax returns and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.
Prosecutors said Mello, a civilian employee at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, stole the money in a single day in 2022 and used it to buy a string of luxury items, including $923,000 worth of jewelry.
Mello was a financial administrator who managed funds for youth programs on military bases and determined which grants were available. According to prosecutors, he created a fraudulent organization called “Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development.”
“Janet Mello betrayed the trust of the government institution she served and repeatedly lied to enrich herself,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.
“Instead of $109 million in federal funds intended to care for military children around the world, she misappropriated the money for her own personal use, buying a luxury home, more than 80 vehicles and more than 1,500 pieces of jewelry,” Esparza said.
His lawyer, Albert Flores, said Mello was deeply remorseful.
“She knows she committed a crime, she did something wrong and she feels very ashamed,” Flores said.
Flores said Melo has saved up many of the items he bought with the money and hopes to sell them to repay the government. “I don’t think the court gave us enough credit, but I can’t complain,” Flores said.
The defense does not plan to appeal, he said.
Prosecutors said Mello used fake organizations he set up to apply for grants through military programs.
In court documents seeking a sentence of at least 19 years in prison for Mello, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons wrote that over a six-year period, Mello filled out more than 40 applications and illegally received approximately $109 million.
Mello used the money to buy millions of dollars worth of real estate, clothing, fine jewelry and 82 vehicles, including a Maserati, a Mercedes, a 1954 Corvette and a Ferrari Fratelli motorcycle.
Simmons wrote that agents executing search warrants in 2023 found numerous vehicles with dead batteries because they had not been driven for an extended period of time.
Prosecutors said Mello was able to steal such large sums because of his years of experience, his expertise in grant programs and the trust he had built among his superiors and colleagues.
“Mello’s extravagant spending habits led to her downfall,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tang of the IRS-Criminal Investigation field office in Houston.
Dennis Faison, a colleague and friend of Mello’s, defended him in a letter to the judge.
“Janet Mello is a good, kind, caring and loving person who would never harm anyone,” Faison wrote. “Janet deserves better in the world. Let her give back to society by giving back what was taken from her. Stop locking her up in prison.”
