United States of America v. Daylyn Harris

Honolulu, Hawaii, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with attempt and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Reported by: Kent Morlan

Daylyn Harris, age 35, conspired to commit wire fraud in connection with false claims he submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) seeking disaster relief related to the Lahaina and Pacific Palisades wildfire disasters from FEMA.

Harris and Chelsea Johnson conspired to defraud FEMA by submitting false disaster relief claims tied to the Lahaina and Pacific Palisades wildfires. They claimed lost income, housing, and property even though they did not live in the disaster area or suffer those losses.

Specifically, Harris falsely claimed that he resided in Lahaina during the Lahaina wildfires, and that he lost housing, income, suffered medical bills, and lost property as a result. Johnson assisted the fraud by posing as Harris’s Maui landlord. Johnson then falsely claimed to live in Pacific Palisades, California during the Pacific Palisades wildfires and falsely claimed she lost housing and incurred other expenses as a result. Together, Harris and Johnson received over $60,000 in disaster relief from FEMA intended for victims of the wildfires.

After he pled guilty, Harris also submitted fabricated flight records to the court to refute allegations that he had violated his conditions of pretrial release. For this conduct, he was charged with and pled guilty to obstruction of justice.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security – Office of the Inspector General.

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 24 months in prison to un concurrently to any term of imprisonment imposed in District of Hawaii Case No. CR 26-00041JMS; Supervised Release: 5 YEARS, to run concurrently with any period of supervised release imposed in District of Hawaii Case No. CR 26-00041JMS; Restitution: $60,458.00; Special Assessment: $100.00. Mittimus forthwith.