Following two days of deliberation, a federal jury Thursday found a Cedar Rapids man not guilty of disaster benefits fraud. The verdict clears 33-year-old Jermaine Graham of any wrongdoing in his application for disaster aid.
Graham was accused of falsely claiming on a Federal Emergency Management Agency application that he lived in a home that was flooded in June. He received an award from FEMA of more than $4,800.
The owners of the home testified that Graham was not living with them at the time of the flood, but Graham’s attorney argued that his client was still entitled to disaster funds – despite living in the home for a few days.