TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Tampa police sergeant accused of welfare fraud has been arrested and fired.
Police Chief Jane Castor said Thursday that Sgt. La Joyce Houston conspired with a Hillsborough County jail inmate to use the inmate's Electronic Benefits Transfer card. Houston allegedly spent $365 at a Gibsonton Walmart with the card.
Houston faces two charges of food stamp fraud and one charge of grand theft. On Thursday afternoon, she was being held in Hillsborough County jail in lieu of $6,000 bail.
The Tampa Bay Times (http://goo.gl/9TuoMT) reports that Houston was a sixteen-year veteran of the police department.
It's unclear whether the 47-year-old Houston has retained an attorney.
