Maricopa Meadows woman Katrina Woods pleaded not guilty July 10 in federal court to stealing tens of thousands of dollars of wildfire relief funds from the government. A jury trial will begin in September. 

Woods, 33, was extradited from Maricopa to Los Angeles, where she was arraigned in U.S. district court for the Central District of California. She faces one count of fraud in connection with a major disaster or emergency benefits. The crime carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice. 

U.S. attorneys lodged the charge against Woods after an investigation — and the recent unsealing of significant case files last week — revealed she falsely claimed her Altadena, Calif., home burned down in the Eaton Fire. She then applied for federal disaster aid. But investigators discovered the address did not exist and Woods had never lived in Altadena. 

Woods appeared before Magistrate Judge Maria A. Audero on her own recognizance after posting a $50,000 bond June 23. On July 10, she pleaded not guilty to fraud. Her case was assigned to Judge Percy Anderson with a jury trial set for Sept. 2 in Los Angeles.   

Woods recently pleaded guilty in Pinal County Superior Court to possession of a forgery device and solicitation to commit identity theft after she used a Florida woman’s identity and counterfeit documents to rent her home in Maricopa. A local judge sentenced her to three years on probation.