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Light
sentence
in
Detroit-area
$122K
Social
Security
fraud
Tell Us
Detroit/AP
DETROIT
- A man
who
didn't
report
his
grandmother's
death to
the
Social
Security
Administration
was
sentenced
to
probation
Monday
for
collecting
$122,000
in
illegal
benefits,
another
light
punishment
for a
crime
that
rarely
results
in
prison
time in
eastern
Michigan.
Prosecutors
sought
at least
10
months
of
confinement
for
Akili
Owens,
prison
or
otherwise.
U.S.
District
Judge
Victoria
Roberts
acknowledged
the
significance
of the
crime
but said
prison
is more
appropriate
for
people
who are
a threat
to
public
safety,
not a
Social
Security
fraudster.
"We
don't
have any
bloody
body in
the
street,"
Roberts
said.
Owens, a
40-year-old
trucker,
apologized
and said
he'd
repay
the
money.
Besides
probation,
he was
ordered
to work
at a
church
kitchen
in Grand
Rapids.
Owens'
grandmother
died in
2004,
but the
government
wasn't
notified
and
Social
Security
payments
continued
to flow
for a
decade.
He got
access
to the
money,
roughly
$12,000
a year,
by
forging
her
signature
on
checks.
"It was
government
money
and he
knew it
— again
and
again
and
again,"
Assistant
U.S.
Attorney
Ryan
Particka
said.
In a
court
filing,
Particka
called
it an
"affront
against
every
hardworking
individual
who pays
into the
system
in hopes
that it
will
still be
there to
support
them in
their
retirement."
Since
the
summer
of 2013,
at least
10
people
in
eastern
Michigan
have
been
sentenced
for
stealing
benefits
after a
relative
died.
Only one
was sent
to
prison.
The
cases
added up
to the
loss of
more
than
$1.5
million
for
Social
Security.
Other
cases
are
pending,
including
the
theft of
$308,000
by a
woman
whose
mother
died in
1998.
Sandra
Sarnowski
will be
sentenced
on Sept.
13.
Since
last
fall,
Social
Security's
inspector
general
has
closed
more
than 280
investigations
nationwide,
either
through
a
conviction
or other
action.
The
government
learns
about
the
deaths
of
Social
Security
recipients
through
families,
funeral
homes
and
state
reporting
systems.
Investigators
also
look at
Medicare
data.
It's a
suspicious
sign if
benefits
are
being
paid to
an
elderly
person
who
lately
hasn't
used
Medicare.
"We take
it very
seriously,"
said
Tracy
Lynge,
who
until
recently
was
chief
spokeswoman
at the
agency's
Office
of
Inspector
General.
In
eastern
Michigan,
federal
prosecutors
often
seek
some
type of
custodial
sentence,
even
house
arrest,
but
confinement
is rare.
U.S.
Attorney
Barbara
McQuade
said a
prison
sentence
can sway
others
who
might be
considering
the same
financial
crime.
But
Miriam
Siefer,
head of
the
federal
public
defender's
office
in
Detroit,
said a
greater
deterrent
might be
the loss
of the
criminal's
own
Social
Security
benefits.
"Lenient
sentences
show
reasonable
minds
can
disagree,"
McQuade
said of
judges.
Faye
Estes
was
placed
on
probation
in
December
for
taking
$121,000
after
her
mother's
death.
"I
honestly
was
hoping I
would
die
before
anyone
found
out
about
it," the
68-year-old
told
investigators.
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