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FORMER FIRST LADY: Michelle Obama was targeted by racists during her time at the White House

A WOMAN who called former US first lady Michelle Obama an “ape in heels” has been jailed.

Former West Virginia official Pamela Taylor, who was fired from her role after making the comment, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for fraud. She was also fined $10,000 and will be placed on house arrest for two months after release from jail. Taylor has already paid $18,149.04 in restitution.

Taylor, who made the racist comment about Obama on Facebook in 2016, was jailed after she pleaded guilty to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds allocated for those affected by flooding in Clay County.

PICTURED: Pamela Taylor (Image: Pamela Taylor/Facebook)

The former director of the Clay County Development Corporation falsely claimed more than $18,000 in relief payments after saying that her home had been damaged in the 2016 floods in West Virginia. The extreme weather killed 23 people.

Investigators discovered that Taylor’s residence had not been damaged in the flood and that she was still living in the unscathed property. She had falsely claimed that she had been forced to live in a rental property.

US attorney Mike Stuart said: “There’s no such thing as a little bit of FEMA fraud. Taylor’s fraudulent scheme took FEMA dollars away from those who needed it the most - a crime on many levels. Disaster aid fraud is despicable and disgusting and we will hold every fraudster accountable.”

“Defrauding federal programs [sic] is always an egregious act. Disaster relief fraud is even more serious because of the limited nature of the funds intended to assist Americans in their time of greatest need,” special agent in charge Mark Tasky of the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, said.

He added: “Justice has been served upon Taylor, who knowingly and wilfully disregarded federal laws to personally enrich herself at a time when many people affected by this disaster were just trying to survive.”

In the Facebook post published after Donald Trump was elected president of the US, Taylor wrote: “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified first lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels.”

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