A Springfield woman pleaded guilty to larceny charges in connection with a scheme stealing more than $8,000 from state agencies and a local homeless shelter. 

Lynn Minella pleaded guilty to two counts of larceny over $250, one count of conspiracy to commit larceny, one count of attempt to commit larceny over $250 and two counts of forgery of a birth certificate.  

Minella worked as an advocate at a local women’s shelter and stole more than $4,300 in donated gift cards intended for shelter participants between 2013 and 2015.  

Minella and Jody Farber-Winters, another participant in the scheme, used identities of shelter participants to apply for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition, a homelessness prevention program funded by the Department of Housing and Community Development. Minella and Farber-Winters then created a fake property management company and forged housing court documents to steal more than $3,900 in benefits.  

Farber-Winters pled guilty to all counts in April and was sentenced to three years of probation and restitution. Minella’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 27.