A Kent couple pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a 20-year disability fraud scheme where they illegally collected more than $320,000.
Ronnie George, 49, and Nancy Stone, 45, defrauded the Social Security Administration and state social welfare programs, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release.
The two face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines for Social Security fraud, when they are sentenced Jan. 19 by U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly. They also will be ordered to pay restitution of more than $320,000.
According to the plea agreement, beginning in 1990, George posed as mentally disabled in order to obtain Social Security benefits. On his application materials, George claimed his friends took care of his daily needs such as dressing, shopping and cooking. He indicated on the form that he “watched Sesame Street” and played with toys such as “my cars and cowboys and G.I. Joes.”
In 1999, the couple again filled out affirmations that George was disabled. Stone claimed the George could not work or drive. In 2009, George filed another form claiming he had “never worked.”
In April 2010, at an interview with a Social Security Administration representative, the couple misrepresented their relationship, claiming that Stone was a caregiver, not George’s common-law wife, and that George had never worked.
In fact, while claiming disability, George and Stone ran a successful business buying and selling vehicles and RVs. George purchased vehicles at auctions, worked on them mechanically, and negotiated sales with buyers.
In addition to fraudulently collecting more than $139,000 in Social Security disability benefits between 1990 and July 2011, the couple also illegally collected medical, housing and caregiver benefits.
Stone was paid more than $150,000 by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, also known as DSHS, based on the couple’s representations that Stone was a caregiver for the supposedly disabled George. The couple also collected more than $10,000 from DSHS for George’s medical bills.
Between January 2010 and July 2011, they collected another $14,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for housing assistance to which they were not entitled.
George and Stone were arrested June 24.
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