USPS worker got $500K in disability for injuries — but vacationed and exercised, feds say
A U.S. Postal Service employee collected $500,000 in disability benefits she didn’t deserve, according to federal prosecutors who’ve accused her of lying about her “physical capabilities.”
The 55-year-old woman of Tampa, Florida, hid how she went on multiple vacations and exercised while collecting disability payments, according to an indictment.
She’s accused of defrauding the government of benefits since April 2008, the indictment shows.
The woman started receiving the monthly payments after reporting she injured her back and shoulder at work in August 2000, and after filing a second claim about workplace stress in 2001, prosecutors said.
The woman is accused of faking her “true medical condition” to doctors who were treating her — and lying on yearly forms to keep the checks coming, prosecutors said.
Now, a federal jury has found her guilty of four counts of mail fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced in a Feb. 1 news release.
Her defense attorney, Grady C. Irvin Jr., told McClatchy News in a statement on Feb. 2 that his client’s conviction was “for falsely stating her membership and activities in a fitness facility, the YMCA.”
It also stemmed from her “not ‘fully disclosing’” her “gym membership and involvement, her travel, and her gardening activities,” Irvin said.
These activities were revealed from government surveillance and in social media posts, according to Irvin.
“The government has yet to prove that she does not have a disability associated with her on the job injuries sustained 23 years ago,” he said.
The woman faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud, according to prosecutors.
At the end of the jury trial, prosecutors told the judge that her advisory guidelines sentencing range was around 20 months in prison, Irvin said.
Due to her conviction, the government will seek for her to forfeit at least $500,000, according to a trial brief.
The woman’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 30, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 11:27 AM with the headline "USPS worker got $500K in disability for injuries — but vacationed and exercised, feds say."
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