Former Philly day care owner gets jail in $1.4 million fraud

A former Philadelphia day care owner awaiting trial in a boy’s drowning has been sentenced to 63 months in prison in a $1.4 million fraud scheme.A federal judge said Thursday that 32-year-old Tianna Edwards must refund the state subsidies she collected after forging signatures to obtain a license.

Edwards pleaded guilty in July.

She duped regulators to hide an insurance fraud and shoplifting record that would have blocked her from opening “Tianna’s Terrific Tots,” authorities said.

Edwards spent subsidy payments on lifestyle expenses and gambling, prosecutors said.

She’s awaiting trial on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the drowning of a 7-year-old boy in her facility’s care.

Prosecutors say the boy was found dead at the bottom of a murky pool he visited with a group from the center.