Attorney General Bill Pryor has announced the arrest of a Shelby County woman on a charge of welfare fraud.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Pamela Sullivan, also known as Pamela Hoggle, 28, of Alabaster was indicted March 22 for first-degree theft of property in the amount of $1,524.

The defendant was arrested on June 18 and

arraignment was set for Aug. 8.

The Attorney General commended Assistant Attorney General Ferris Stephens and Special Agent Dennis Larson of the Attorney General’s Welfare Fraud Unit for their work in handling the case.

He also thanked the Department of Human Resources for its assistance in preparing information and referring the matter to the Attorney General’s office for review and appropriate action.

&uot;The welfare fraud unit in my office will continue to work closely with the state and the county departments of human resources to find and punish cases of welfare theft,&uot; Pryor said.

&uot;It is our duty, both to the taxpayers of Alabama and to the poor and truly needy, to protect these public funds and prosecute those who abuse the welfare system.&uot;

It was reported that the Shelby County case is part of a continuing statewide effort by the Attorney General to investigate and aggressively prosecute welfare fraud.

Since Pryor took office on Jan. 2, 1997, the Attorney General’s Welfare Fraud Unit has successfully completed prosecutions in 52 counties and prosecutions are pending in 31 counties including Bibb, Talladega, Tuscaloosa and Jefferson Counties