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A New York woman admitted to stealing over $25,000 in Social Security benefits meant for her child, federal officials said. Loretta Washington, 60, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Oct. 16 to multiple charges of social security fraud, including receiving benefits for her minor child under false pretenses, the U.
S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said in an Oct. 17 news release . McClatchy News reached out to Washington’s attorney Oct.
18, but did not receive an immediate response. According to court records, Washington’s child became eligible to receive survivor’s benefits after their father died in 2016. Afterward, Washington applied to receive Social Security benefits on behalf of the child, as a representative-payee, prosecutors said.
But in September 2018, Broome County Department of Social Services removed the child, who was 4-years-old at the time, from Washington’s custody after finding the child walking on a road at night, authorities said. After being placed in an emergency shelter, the child was officially adopted by a third party more than a year later, records show. Throughout this time, Washington did not report the change to the Social Security Administration and continued to receive benefit payments for the child, officials said.
During a redetermination interview in 2021, Washington told the SSA that the child was still in her custody, according to records. Washington is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13, officials said.
She faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release and is required to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration..
