Sentencing for a Pontiac mother accused of welfare fraud was postponed Thursday while she undergoes a mental health evaluation in a separate case connected to accusations she left her three children alone for years living in filthy conditions.
Kelli Bryant pleaded no contest in December to charges that she collected public assistance for her three children after she allegedly abandoned them. A “no contest” plea means a defendant is not admitting guilt but is used for sentencing purposes.
She faces first-degree child abuse in a separate case. Her trial for the charges was scheduled to start at the beginning of March in Oakland County Circuit Court. A few days before, her attorney told the judge Bryant needed an evaluation of her mental health to determine her fitness to stand trial.
Her attorney, Cecilia Quirindongo, told Judge Mary Ellen Brennan on Thursday that Bryant would prefer to…
Cyber fraud uses technology as the primary weapon. It is highly scalable and can be conducted from anywhere in the world.
- Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: Using deceptive emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or phone calls (vishing) to trick victims into clicking malicious links or revealing sensitive data.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): A high-value scam where a criminal impersonates a CEO or high-level executive via a “spoofed” email address to trick a staff member into making an urgent, unauthorized wire transfer.