About two years ago, the Journal Sentinel published a story about the rampant fraud and careless oversight in Wisconsin's state program that subsidizes day care costs. The article won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, but that wasn't the only outcome.

As a result of the exposé, Wisconsin authorities launched a large investigation into day care centers throughout the state. To date, 18 people have been convicted of day care fraud. Those individuals received jail or prison sentences ranging from 30 days to two years, and they have been ordered to repay more than $829,000.

One woman was recently charged with obtaining day care licenses in her son and daughter's names, and then fraudulently charging the state for children who didn't attend the centers.

Ferlisha was unable to get a license to run a day care because she had a felony record. To combat the roadblock, she obtained a day care license in her son's name, and then obtained a second license in her daughter's name.

According to Ferlisha, both day care centers were successful in the beginning. However, when children stopped attending the second day care center, Ferlisha needed money to pay the employees she had hired. At that point, she started falsifying attendance records in order to receive money from the state program. Ferlisha insisted, "It wasn't because of greed."

The judge, however, had seen too many day care fraud cases to be sympathetic. He sentenced her to 18 months in prison, followed by four and a half years of supervised release. She must also pay back the $134,000 that she fraudulently received from the state program. The judge also stated that he wanted to use Ferlisha as an example for other people who viewed the program as "just another opportunity to rip the government off."

Source: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Journal Sentinel, "Day care fraud nets Falls woman 18 months in prison," Bruce Vielmetti, Jan. 18, 2012