Jury convicts Lake Elmo woman of stealing $3.6M from now-shuttered housing program

A federal jury this week convicted a Lake Elmo woman of running a scheme to defraud Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program of $3.6 million.

Sharmaine Meadows, 45, was found guilty on three counts of healthcare fraud for her exploitation of the HSS program from 2020-25 through her company, Cradle of Love LLC. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years on each count.

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HSS was established in 2020 to connect vulnerable adults with long-term housing. Prosecutors say its annual operating cost was originally estimated to be $...