FORMER FREDERICK WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO BANKRUPTCY FRAUD
Filed at Least Six Bankruptcy Cases in Six Years Using Different Identity Information

Greenbelt, Maryland - Barbara Stanko, age 47, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and formerly of Frederick, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to making false statements in a bankruptcy petition, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the plea agreement, Stanko filed at least six bankruptcy petitions during the six-year period from 1996 to 2002 using two different social security numbers and three variations of her name: Barbara A. Stanko, Barbara A. Roy and Barbara A. Poole.

On May 22, 2001, Stanko attempted to file a new bankruptcy petition at the Clerk's Office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Greenbelt, Maryland. A clerk at the counter rejected her petition because a prior bankruptcy case for Stanko had been dismissed on January 5, 2001, with prejudice against any new filing for 180 days. Stanko left the counter only to return shortly thereafter to file another petition, using an altered copy of the previously rejected petition in which her surname and the last four digits of her social security number had been obliterated and written over with a new social security number that was not hers.

Stanko faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. has scheduled sentencing for July 10, 2008 at 9:30 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Trustee's Office for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Robert K. Hur, who is prosecuting the case.

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