Former Hennepin County Employee Admits to Federal Fraud Charge

Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - A former Hennepin County employee and her husband have pleaded guilty to federal charges involving the theft of almost a quarter million dollars worth of government benefits and services. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota says 50-year-old Yolanda Pittman and 45-year-old Robert Coleman admitted to charges of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds.

Prosecutors say Pittman was working for the Hennepin County Human Services Department when she began a romantic relationship with a client of her office that led to their marriage in 2014. She was accused of using her access to computer databases to fraudulently obtain federal housing subsidies, Medicaid and Social Security benefits, food stamps and other public assistance for Coleman and herself from the fall of 2010 through August of last year. The total of the benefits and services has been estimated at over $248,000.

A sentencing hearing for the couple has not been scheduled.