HOUSTON — A Porter woman was sentenced to 71 months in federal prison after she lied about how many people lived with her to get a $435,000 home built with Hurricane Harvey recovery money. She also threatened to kill a witness and assaulted a federal agent investigating the fraud.
Sharai Poteet obtained this $435,000, seven-bedroom home through a Hurricane Harvey recovery program after falsely claiming that 11 people lived in her household, federal prosecutors said. Photo provided to Katy Christian Magazine by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Used with permission.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered Sharai Poteet, 56, to pay $537,209 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She will serve three years of supervised release after prison, according to a press release the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas provided to Katy Christian Magazine.
Poteet pleaded guilty June 1 to wire fraud, fraud in connection with a major disaster, threatening to kill a witness and assaulting or impeding a law enforcement officer. She was ordered into custody after sentencing.
Prosecutors said the fraud ran from 2019 through 2024. On housing applications, Poteet falsely claimed that 11 people lived in her household, including seven children and an adult with a disability. That claim got her a custom seven-bedroom house, the largest the Harvey recovery program had built at the time.
The Texas General Land Office built the house. ABC13 covered Poteet receiving the keys in 2021 and reported that her previous home had flooded during Harvey. A state spokeswoman told the station that federal rules based the size of a replacement home on how many people would live there.
Some Harvey survivors spent months away from home. A Katy pastor and his wife stayed with relatives for 90 days after their house flooded, and Sugar Land Methodist Church sheltered displaced residents for three months. Parkway Fellowship volunteers helped clean up 150 homes, and a furniture retailer donated furnishings to more than 300 affected families.
Prosecutors said Poteet also filed five fraudulent FEMA applications for storms that occurred between 2017 and 2024. Evidence at sentencing showed that she searched online for “what is the punishment for lying to FEMA” shortly before filing a false claim for hurricane aid.
During the investigation, Poteet threatened to kill a whistleblower in an effort to silence the witness, prosecutors said. She also assaulted a federal agent while trying to flee as investigators moved to seize her cellphone.
Two officers flank Sharai Poteet. Prosecutors said she assaulted a federal agent while trying to flee as investigators moved to seize her cellphone. Photos provided to Katy Christian Magazine by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Used with permission.
Hoyt heard testimony about the toll the threats took on the witness and the witness’s family, along with evidence that Poteet committed forgeries after she was charged. The judge said “without being charged, it is unlikely she would have stopped,” according to prosecutors.
HUD’s Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shalimar Addy prosecuted it.
