Two Women Sentenced in Fire Relief Aid Scam

Two San Bruno women convicted of bilking fire relief aid officials were sentenced at the San Mateo County Hall of Justice this morning to jail time, a combined 700 hours of community services and three years of supervised probation.

Lisa Justin, 42, and Sonya Smith, 44, pleaded no contest to two felony counts—commercial burglary and perjury—on Jan. 4.

Prosecutors say the women of the Sept. 9 gas pipeline explosion in order to cash in on relief aid.

Each faced up to three years in prison.

In addition to probation, Judge Lisa Novak sentenced Justin to 312 days in San Mateo County Jail, which she has already served. Smith, who received a full year, will return to jail for 53 additional days. Smith must perform 500 hours of community service, and Justin must perform 200 hours.

"You owe something to the community you victimized," Novak told Justin as the two women stood in her courtroom handcuffed and in orange jumpsuits.

Addressing Smith, Novak added, "You've given your community nothing, having lived off the tax dollars and hard work of the citizens....And you're going to do something to pay back your community."

on Sept. 14 for trying to secure temporary identification from the DMV at the fire relief aid center set up at the . Prosecutors say they used names of people who lived in the devastated area for the purpose of getting aid.

The two women are among seven people accused of attempting to defraud relief officials in the aftermath of the blaze.

, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of commercial burglary at her preliminary hearing in a South San Francisco courtroom.

Los Altos resident , 41, pleaded no contest to two counts of  burglary, one count of identity theft and one count of grand theft on Jan 11. He faces up to three years in state prison.

, 25, of San Leandro, , 25, of Fairfield, and , 46, of San Francisco, are still awaiting trial on similar charges.