Jackson, Miss. – A Meridian woman pled guilty to stealing social security benefits intended for two elderly victims totaling $25,364. According to court documents, Taruars Santae Grace, 46, admitted that she stole Social Security Administration (SSA) retirement benefits intended for two elderly victims. Grace diverted the SSA benefits into bank accounts to which she had…

LITTLE ROCK—Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today that Roy David Lykins, 56, of Greenbrier, who fraudulently collected more than $249,000 from the Social Security Administration (SSA), was sentenced to 19 months in federal prison by United States District Judge Brian S. Miller. Lykins was also sentenced to…

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former Harrisonville, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for Social Security fraud and for committing perjury when he testified at his trial. Michael Sylvara, 39, who currently lives and owns a business in Ozark, Mo., but lived in Harrisonville at the time of the offense, was sentenced by…

BANGOR, Maine: A Troy woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor for Social Security fraud, health care fraud, and theft of public money. U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced Christie Mitchell, 49, to three years of probation, including five months of home detention. She was also ordered to pay $82,940 in restitution. Mitchell pleaded…

BOSTON – A Winthrop, Mass. man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for fraudulently obtaining a U.S. passport and then using it to enter the United States from Istanbul, Turkey in 2021.   Azem Gigo Zebic, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to 18 months of probation, 100 hours…

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Bolarinwa Salau, 30, of Rockaway Beach, New York, has been charged with identity theft. According to the court documents, West Virginia State Police stopped a vehicle driven by Salau. Salau was found in possession of means of identification of other people in connection with a stolen identity refund fraud scheme, often…

RIVERSIDE, California – Two San Bernardino County residents were arrested today on a nine-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they fraudulently obtained more than $2.1 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds by submitting more than 120 fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits using stolen identities, including those of California state prisoners. Lisa Puente, 43, of…

Tampa, Florida –United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Antonino Resendiz Badillo (39, Mexico) today pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. Badillo faces a penalty of two years in federal prison, consecutive to any other term of imprisonment. A sentencing date has not yet been set. According to the plea agreement, E-Verify is a web-based system through which employers…

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that NATHANIEL HOPKINS, JR. (“HOPKINS”), age 48, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before United States District  Judge Jay Zainey to Theft of Government Funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641. According to court documents, HOPKINS’s wife was authorized to receive Social Security Administration (“SSA”) Title II –…

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JOSE GUADALUPE MUNOZ-PEREZ (“MUNOZ”), age 46, a native of Mexico, was indicted on October 24, 2024 for illegally using a social security number to obtain a Louisiana driver’s license, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(7)(B). MUNOZ faces up to five (5) years imprisonment,…