Sharon Toney-Finch of Newburgh, New York, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for a scheme to defraud military veterans’ charities and falsely claiming that she was a Purple Heart recipient. Toney-Finch is an Army veteran and founder of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity. Her foundation reportedly strived to raise awareness of premature births, offer assistance to premature babies and their families, and provide a place to stay or transportation while the babies were in the neonatal intensive care unit. The foundation also claimed to help homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance. In fact, she helped virtually no veterans and, instead, used the money donated—approximately $85,000—for her own benefit, including to pay for a vehicle, gym membership, travel, meals, and other personal expenses. She pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and making a false claim of valor in March 2025. In addition to incarceration, Toney-Finch was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $84,000 in restitution and $85,000 in forfeiture. The VA OIG, FBI, Army Criminal Investigation Division, and Orange County Sheriff’s Office in New York investigated this case.
