Justia Public Benefits Opinion Summaries

Defendants, brothers Mathew and Timothy, appealed their convictions related to their participation in Social Security fraud. The court concluded that the government presented sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mathew knowingly participated in a conspiracy to defraud the United States and that he intended to steal government property; the court rejected Mathew's challenges to his theft of government property conviction by arguing that the government failed to establish that the Social Security funds Timothy received were a "thing of value of the United States;" the government also presented sufficient evidence to support Timothy's convictions; and Timothy's sentence was not unreasonable where the district court considered 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors and did not clearly err in weighing them. Accordingly, the court affirmed the convictions and Timothy's sentence. View "United States v. Shirley" on Justia Law

Natale,a vascular surgeon, was compensated by Medicare for repairing a patient’s aortic aneurysm. Another doctor reviewed the post-surgical CT scan, which did not match the procedure Natale described in his operative reports. After an investigation, Natale was indicted for health care fraud related to his Medicare billing, mail fraud, and false statements related to health care. A jury acquitted Natale on the fraud counts but convicted him of making false statements, 18 U.S.C. 1035. The trial court used jury instructions that seemingly permitted conviction for false statements completely unrelated to Medicare reimbursement. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding the error harmless, but clarified that under the statute, even conviction for false statements made in connection with items or services still must relate to a “matter involving a health care benefit program.” View "United States v. Natale" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed a district court order adding to her previously imposed sentence a new requirement that she apply all tax refunds and other money she received from any "anticipated or unexpected financial gains" toward an outstanding restitution obligation imposed on her as a part of her sentence. Defendant was convicted of theft of government property because she received Supplementary Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration after her eligibility for such payments had ended. Defendant had been receiving the money on behalf of her special-needs daughter but failed to notify the government when she subsequently married and her husband's income made her ineligible for SSI. The court concluded that the district court abused its discretion by later amending the original sentence in the absence of evidence of the impact the amendment would have on defendant's ability to support herself and her family and, therefore, the court vacated the order. View "United States v. Grant" on Justia Law

Taylor owned a convenience store. In 2008, the store received authorization to redeem benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federally funded program providing nutritional assistance to needy individuals. In 2010-2011, the USDA conducted an undercover operation. Taylor allowed undercover police officers and confidential informants working under USDA special agents to redeem SNAP benefits for cash that Taylor knew would be used to purchase illegal drugs. Taylor once exchanged a firearm for SNAP benefits. Taylor pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S., SNAP fraud, drug distribution, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Based on the firearm conviction and Taylor’s criminal history, the probation officer recommended an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e), resulting in a Guidelines range of 188 to 235 months. The district court sentenced Taylor to 188 months. Graves, a friend of Taylor’s, worked in the store and would stand outside the store and either sell drugs to people who redeemed benefits for cash or tell them where to find drugs. Graves also sold an informant a firearm and split the proceeds with Taylor’s wife. The district court sentenced Graves to 200 months. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. View "United States v. Taylor" on Justia Law

Venti’s father received federal Civil Service Retirement System benefits. Venti’s father died in 1990, which should have terminated his benefits. The Office of Personnel Management continued to deposit the CSRS funds into a checking account that Venti had shared with his father. In 2003, Venti opened a new joint checking account at RFCU in the names of himself and his father and arranged for the CSRS benefits, as well as his own Social Security benefits, to be deposited in the new account. In 2005, OPM learned of the death of Venti's father and stopped depositing the CSRS benefits. In 2009, Venti was convicted of theft of government property (18 U.S.C. 641), one count for each of nine checks written in his father’s name during 2005, and was sentenced to 15 months. The First Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that one count was time-barred. If the count had been time-barred, the sentence would have been limited to one year because Venti would be treated as a misdemeanant rather than as a felon. View "United States v. Venti" on Justia Law

Defendant Barbara Norris, an organizational payee with the Social Security Administration, pled guilty to social security representative payee fraud. The district court sentenced Defendant to eighteen months in prison, the top of her guideline range. Defendant appealed, arguing that her sentence was substantively unreasonable. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Defendant to eighteen months in prison, as the court properly applied its wide latitude to weigh the factors in the federal sentencing statute and assigned some factors greater weight than others in determining an appropriate sentence. View "United States v. Norri" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction for social security fraud pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 408(a)(5). The court held that the district court committed no reversible error in the formulation of jury instructions; the district court acted within its discretion when it admitted computer-generated records into evidence; the prosecutor's comments did not warrant reversal of defendant's conviction; the district court committed no error when it denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal; and 42 U.S.C. 408(a)(5) was not unconstitutionally vague. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Berry" on Justia Law

For 20 years, George was a clerk-magistrate. In 1995, he was charged with conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 371, 1343, 1346 for selling blank search warrants, used to commit robberies. George entered a plea for a sentence of 20 months and a $10,000 fine. George retired before his plea and began receiving a monthly benefit of $1,424.91, plus health-care. In 2003, the state retirement board suspended benefits; his attorney had advised him that he would remain eligible if he started receiving benefits before he entered a plea. The district court denied his petition for a writ of error coram nobis. The First Circuit affirmed. The Board authorized recoupment of benefits in excess of contributions. In 2010, the Supreme Court held that "intangible right of honest services," in 18 U.S.C. 1346, would be unconstitutionally vague unless limited to schemes involving bribes or kickbacks. George’s second petition was denied. The court found that, in light of Skilling, a fundamental error had occurred, but that cessation of benefits did not constitute a continuing collateral consequence sufficient to justify the remedy. The First Circuit affirmed, referring to a “Hail Mary pass.” A court has discretion to withhold the remedy where the interests of justice dictate.View "United States v. George" on Justia Law

For about seven years, defendant aided undocumented immigrants in filing claims for Illinois unemployment benefits, charging a fee of $80 plus one benefit check, and using social security numbers of unsuspecting, law-abiding citizens. She arranged with a state employee to process the applications as though the undocumented aliens were citizens. She was convicted of eight counts of mail fraud and sentenced to 96 months' imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed application of sentencing guideline enhancements: for being an organizer or leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive, for unauthorized use of any means of identification unlawfully to produce or obtain any other means of identification, and for an offense with 50 or more victims. View "United States v. Vasquez" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, pro se and incarcerated, appealed the district court's order denying his post-judgment motion for an order directing the Social Security Administration (SSA) to re-tender a check for retroactive supplemental social security benefits that he was owed. The court held that the No Social Security Benefits for Prisoners Act, Pub. L. No. 111-114, 123 Stat. 3029, barred the SSA from making any payment to an incarcerated individual covered by the Act, regardless of when the underlying obligation to pay the individual arose. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's denial of plaintiff's motion. View "Fowlkes v. Thomas, et al." on Justia Law