Former Saco School Board member sentenced to 2 years probation for bankruptcy fraud
May 31—A former Saco School Board member was sentenced to two years of probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud in U.S. District Court.
Christina Shea, 46, filed for bankruptcy in Portland in April 2020 using her husband's name and information after unsuccessfully attempting to file for bankruptcy four times under her own name.
Shea was elected to the Saco School Board in July 2020. She resigned during a board meeting on Aug. 25, 2021 — a year before she pleaded guilty to one count of bankruptcy fraud — citing "unanticipated and deeply personal circumstances."
U.S. District Judge Jon Levy unsealed Shea's court records in November after she pleaded guilty in August 2022. Those records show she and her husband were at risk of eviction from their home in Saco, where they had lived for at least 10 years, after they were unable to make the required payments on their mortgage starting in November 2017.
After failing to make the payments within a 90-day foreclosure period ordered by a York County district court judge, Shea filed four petitions for bankruptcy in federal court from 2018 to early 2021. Every time she filed a petition, she was automatically given temporary protection from eviction until the bankruptcy court issued its decision.
Then she used her spouse's name on a fifth petition, without his knowledge. She admitted to using his name, Social Security number and a fake email address, forging his name on a $310 money order to the Bankruptcy Court, and impersonating him during an online credit counseling course that's required in bankruptcy filings.
Levy's two-year probation sentence was supported by both prosecutors and Shea's public defense attorney, Heather Gonzalez, according to a sentencing memorandum Gonzalez filed on May 24. Shea has no criminal history, Gonzalez wrote, and her crime was a nonviolent offense with no monetary loss.
Gonzalez said Wednesday that she was unable to comment on Shea's sentence because commenting on past and prior cases goes against the federal defender office's policy.
Shea is a mother of two teenagers, one recently diagnosed with special needs, and was navigating this new diagnosis as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, a struggling marriage and the risk of foreclosure at the time of her bankruptcy petitions, according to the memo.
"She was overwhelmed and her judgment was clouded," Gonzalez wrote. "The thought of being without a place to live was unbearable and drove her to commit the instant offense."
Shea faced up to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, according to court records. Although her sentence does not come with jail time, Gonzalez wrote that her client will face stigma and barriers for her felony conviction.
"Christina's motivation for committing the underlying offense was not greed or any other nefarious purpose," Gonzalez wrote. "She was desperately trying to maintain shelter for her family."
