Atlanta Housing Authority Executive Gets Prison for Siphoning Section 8 Funds to Her Own Pocket

A former senior vice president at the Atlanta Housing Authority, who oversaw one of the largest Section 8 programs in the country, has been sentenced to prison for a massive fraud scheme.

Tracy Denise Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft of government funds, wire fraud, and credit application fraud in February, and was sentenced on May 20 to nine months in prison. She was also ordered to pay more than $129,000 in fines and restitution.

Federal prosecutors said Jones collected Section 8 housing assistance payments for her own rental property and family members, committed mortgage fraud when refinancing her rental property, and made fraudulent applications to collect pandemic relief funds. 

The brazen crimes took place while Jones was a top executive at Atlanta Housing Authority, responsible for directing federal housing assistance to tens of thousands of low-income households throughout the city

“Jones violated the trust of the community, the taxpayers, and the needy families she was supposed to assist, using her senior position at one of the largest housing authorities to steal limited public funds,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Her theft of that money meant other members of the community went without much-needed relief.”

Inside her scheme

From April 2017 to February 2026, Jones was the senior vice president over the Housing Choice Voucher Program at the Atlanta Housing Authority, which oversees a $338 million annual budget for Section 8 housing assistance.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the funding for Section 8 housing programs, including rental assistance payments made to landlords on behalf of eligible low-income individuals and families.

Because Section 8 funding is limited, demand often exceeds available resources, resulting in lengthy waiting lists for applicants seeking assistance. To avoid conflicts of interest and ensure fair administration of the program, housing authority employees are generally prohibited from receiving Section 8 rental assistance for properties they own or have a financial interest in.

Jones defrauded the program by using a series of falsified forms to have her family members admitted to the Section 8 program and then to receive Section 8 payments for them to live in her own rental house, according to Hertzberg in the criminal complaint.

Hertzberg said the conspiracy involved the mother of Jones' two grandchildren, who is identified by the initials M.D. in court documents.

M.D. was living in Jones’ Fayetteville, GA, property while her rent was being subsidized through the Section 8 housing program. However, the filing states that because M.D. resided in Fayetteville, she was not eligible for assistance from the agency known as Atlanta Housing. Despite this, prosecutors allege that Jones and M.D. submitted paperwork falsely representing that M.D. was an Atlanta resident who needed to relocate to Fayetteville due to safety concerns as a victim of domestic violence.

Hertzberg said through this scheme, Jones improperly received more than $36,000 in Section 8 housing assistance payments from 2019 to 2023.

Jones further obstructed subsequent investigations by submitting a false affidavit and convincing friends to provide false statements and present false documents on her behalf, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

They said Jones also committed mortgage fraud when she refinanced her Section 8 rental property and falsely represented on a $219,780 loan application that the property was her primary residence, was not being used as a rental property, and that she did not own any other property.

Pandemic relief scam

During the same period, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Jones used her shell company and a second business entity to obtain more than $27,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 pandemic relief programs by falsely representing that the businesses were operational, employed multiple workers, and generated more than $56,000 in gross revenue during 2019.

When the SBA denied one of Jones’ applications, authorities said she appealed the denial, falsely stating: 

• “I am truly a[n] honest business owner[.]” 
• “I hear the stories how people abused the PPP loans to establish a lavish lif[e] style. That is not me. My business is small and is growing, but I [am] one of the legitimate and honest business that can use all the help I can.”
• “I also serve a community of low income families in my business, renting one of my three homes to a low income family as well as serve other owners of low income rental properties.”

"Tracy Jones abused a position of trust by diverting funds from multiple federal programs, undermining assistance intended for vulnerable communities and struggling businesses during the pandemic,” said Special Agent in Charge Jerome Winkle, with the HUD Office of Inspector General.

Sentencing details

Jones' nine-month prison sentence will be followed by nine months of home detention and 15 months of supervised release.

She's also been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $65,598.80 and a fine of $63,546.

"Our office will continue to vigorously act to hold people like Jones, who violate the public trust and pilfer from the treasury, accountable," said Hertzberg.

Realtor.com® reached out to Jones' attorney Samuel Joseph but did not hear back.