A LIFE OF LUXURY AND FRAUD, JANET YAMANAKA MELLO IS SENTENCED

An Army civilian employee pleads not guilty to ten charges that would result in nearly 150 years in prison after being caught in a seven-year-long scheme involving money fraud crimes. The woman, Janet Yamanaka Mello, defrauded the military out of almost $109 million to fund a lavish lifestyle for herself that included luxury cars, homes, expensive jewelry, and several healthy bank accounts. Now, Mello has been found guilty and is headed to prison, where she will spend 15 years because of her crimes.

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Who Is Janet Yamanaka Mello?

Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, worked at Fort Sam Houston Army base in San Antonio, Texas as a financial program manager.

While working as a financial program manager, she was responsible for determining funding amounts for a 4-H program that the military uses to supplement civilian partners.

4-H programs are 4-H programs is youth development initiatives that help kids get connected with community efforts and the agriculture industry.

Mello used the Military 4-H youth development program to commit these crimes, and the trust that she had built with her supervisors and co-workers to get the approvals to do so.

What We Know About the Crimes

In 2016, Janet Yamanaka Mello created a nonprofit organization called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development (CHYLD) whose purpose was said to provide services to adolescents of military members.

Because of this purpose, Mello’s program was entitled to funds from the Military 4-H partnership program.

As the financial manager, Mello processed funds through the submission of fraudulent paperwork to this business for years. However, she provided no services to the adolescents of military members.

Instead, Mello created a luxury lifestyle for herself with the funds building up a heavy real estate portfolio that consisted of the purchase of 31 properties.

One of these properties was an eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom mansion located on 58 acres of land, with 55 garage spaces, in Preston, Maryland, valued at $3.1 million.

Another property Janet Yamanaka Mello acquired was a $2.3 million home with four bedrooms and six bathrooms located on 35 acres, located in Castle Rock, Colorado.

In addition to this real estate portfolio, Mello purchased 78 vehicles. Among these vehicles were 16 Harley Davidson motorcycles, four Ducatis, and a 1955 Ferrari Fratelli 165 Racer. It was also discovered that Mello had over $18 million across six accounts.

Janet Yamanaka Mello Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Janet Yamanaka Mello pleaded guilty to ten charges and received a sentence of 15 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.

The defense expressed remorse by Mello in the San Antonio federal court while U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons was seeking over 19 years in prison for a sentence.

After her arrest in December 2023, Mello was released without bail and was originally charged with five counts of mail fraud, four counts of engaging in a monetary transaction over $10,000 using criminally derived proceeds, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Janet Yamanaka Mello will also be forced to return the money and goods that she stole.

Though a far cry from the original maximum of 142 years in prison, Mello’s actions are facing their consequences as justice is in store for Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Sadly, cases like this are a prime example of fraud that discredits organizations, the military, and pulls resources from the Army needlessly. The good news is that the case is over and justice has been served.

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Updated by Buddy Blouin