A third woman tied to the Geminus Corporation Emergency Rental Assistance funds theft was given probation, largely because the judge wanted to make a point.

By sentencing Chermell Ellis Thursday to probation and restitution of $90,950, U.S. District Court Judge Philip Simon wanted to show that if someone accused cooperates, they too can earn a lesser sentence. Had she not cooperated as she did, it would’ve been a different story, he said during her sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Hammond.

“Had you not cooperated, I’d have sent you to jail,” Simon said. “But you responded the best way you could, and people will be rewarded if they do that.”

In the plea deal she accepted in November, Ellis pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was facing 8 to 14 months in prison, with 1 to 3 years supervised release, according to court documents.

Ellis, in her defense, said that getting involved with that scheme was the “deepest regret of her life.”

“I have no excuse, and I take full responsibility,” a visibly shaken Ellis said. “I put my daughter in a position she never deserved to be in.”

Ellis — along with Valencia Franklin and Gloria White, who were sentenced last month for their roles — was accused of misappropriating $636,000 in Emergency Rental Assistance funds destined to help renters hang on to their residences during the pandemic by creating false landlords to fraudulently request money from the program, according to an independent audit by an Indianapolis accounting firm.

Geminus Corp. discovered discrepancies in its records, which led to finding out about the potential fraud in July 2022, according to Bill Trowbridge, president and CEO of Geminus and its umbrella organization, Regional Care Group.

The nonprofit service agency based in Merrillville immediately contacted the U.S. Department of the Treasury and fired Franklin, as well as alerted the accounting firm that does its annual audit. The audit, released in January 2023, covered fiscal years ending in June 2021 and 2022. The $636,000 figure is what Geminus “had strong suspicions” was fraudulent and reported to the feds and the agency’s auditors, Trowbridge has said.

Geminus received $40 million in federal funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance program as a pass-through agency, distributing the money throughout Lake County during the pandemic.

Franklin was sentenced to two years and $352,300 in restitution for her part, while White was given 24 months’ probation and $177,800 in restitution, the Post-Tribune previously reported. Each woman’s restitution amount will be given to Geminus as a joint and several liability, Simon said.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.