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San Francisco Woman Who Posed As Lawyer Sentenced For Mail Fraud, Lying On Loan Application

SACRAMENTO (AP) — A San Francisco woman who posed as a lawyer and lied to get more than $350,000 in pandemic relief money was sentenced to 18 months in prison in exchange for her guilty plea, federal prosecutors said.

Miranda Devlin, 37, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday after pleading guilty to making false statements on a loan application and to committing mail fraud to steal a California attorney's bar license, the Sacramento Bee reported Thursday.

Devlin's attorney, Mark Goldrosen, told McClatchy News the sentence was fair given his client's circumstances and character.

In her plea agreement, Devlin detailed crimes she committed from March 2012 through May of last year, said the U.S. Department of Justice in a press release.

The press statement says she submitted change of address requests to the U.S. postal service to have mail forwarded to her, including an attorney's state bar license. She said she represented multiple people in court.

Federal prosecutors said she also made up a small business in order to get money from the federal government's paycheck protection program last year.

Devlin must also pay nearly $600,000 in restitution.

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