Man steals dead wife’s benefits, then threatens to stab agents arresting him, feds say
A man accused of stealing his late wife’s Social Security benefits threatened to stab agents if they entered his Florida home to arrest him, federal prosecutors said.
The 66-year-old resident of Homosassa and his stepdaughter illegally collected his wife’s benefits between February 2016 and March 2020 following her death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
They’re accused of forging his deceased wife’s name on checks to empty her account of the funds.
The benefits were worth more than $1,000, according to an indictment filed Dec. 12 charging the pair with one count of receipt of stolen government property. The exact amount of stolen benefits wasn’t specified.
McClatchy News contacted the man’s defense attorney David Anthony Wilson and federal public defender Joshua Woodard, who’s representing his stepdaughter, for comment Jan. 10 and didn’t receive immediate responses.
The man was uncooperative when agents from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General arrived to arrest him on Jan. 4, prosecutors said.
The man refused to step outside and warned agents against coming in — so they breached his front door, according to the attorney’s office.
The agents found him holding two large knives inside before he dropped the weapons and was arrested, prosecutors said.
Now he’s facing a charge of forcibly assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, the attorney’s office announced Jan. 9.
If convicted on the assault charge, the man would face up to 20 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
The man and his stepdaughter could face up to 10 years in prison if they’re convicted on the Social Security fraud charges, the attorney’s office said.
Homosassa is about 75 miles northwest of Tampa.
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