Nonprofit head gets jail for spending grant funds on self

CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge has handed a 21-day jail sentence to the head of a Chicago nonprofit for spending a state grant earmarked for youth-jobs programs on herself.

U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo on Thursday told Franshuan Myles that the damage done undermining the public's confidence in such grant programs was substantial even if the amount of the fraud was small.

Myles, who headed Chicago's Divine Praise Inc., was accused of misusing a $60,000 Illinois Youth Recreation Corps grant. During her trial, prosecutors displayed records showing Myles used grant money on car payments, clothes and home-improvement supplies.

Myles shed tears and told the judge she had good intentions with the grant but got in over her head when she took over the nonprofit. "I'll pay it back!" Myles cried at one point during her remarks.