The New York Times on Thursday apologised to readers over a profile it ran on a supposed Hurricane Katrina victim who ended up being arrested for welfare fraud. The March 8 story profiled Donna Fenton, who identified herself as a 37-year-old Katrina victim from Biloxi, Mississippi.
In the story, Fenton complained about her thwarted efforts to get federal aid for her and her children while they were being housed as emergency residents in a hotel in Queens, New York. On Wednesday, Fenton was arrested by police and charged with welfare fraud and grand larceny.
Prosecutors said she was never a Katrina victim, never lived in Biloxi and had improperly received thousands of dollars in government aid.
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