Woman ‘abused’ her guardian status, stole $28,368 in benefits meant for kids, feds say
An Oklahoma guardian applied to receive Social Security survivor benefits on behalf of three children, then she used the money in ways that didn’t benefit the kids, according to federal authorities.
In total, authorities said she received payments totaling about $28,368 from about Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2020.
She “claimed that she spent it on housing, clothing, education, medical and dental expenses, recreation, or personal items” for the three kids — but it was a lie, according to a Nov. 1 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Now, the 55-year-old Chelsea woman has been sentenced to six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to court records. She was also ordered to pay $28,368 in restitution.
McClatchy News is not identifying the woman to protect the identity of the children.
The woman’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Nov. 2.
In a sentencing memorandum, the defense attorney said his client is a mother of five and grandma to 13.
“(She) wants to make right what she did wrong,” the attorney said in court records. “She regrets misallocating the money that was entrusted to her for others. She is sorry. She has never been criminally accused and never will be again.”
U.S. Attorney Clint J. Johnson said the woman “not only abused her position as a guardian, but she also stole thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits from children.”
The woman’s boyfriend was charged with child neglect in Indian Country in a related indictment, authorities said.
In his plea agreement, he said that, “despite our receipt of social security benefit funds for these children, I frequently failed to provide sufficient food or clothing to them; made them live in a home that had holes in the floor, a lack of electricity except for an extension cord that I ran into the house, and infestations of bed bugs, maggots, and roaches.”
The man only allowed the children to take one bath a week, and the kids had to share the bath water, court documents say.
He has not been sentenced as of Nov. 2. The man’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chelsea is about 50 miles northeast of Tulsa.
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