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Woman Sentenced For Stealing Social Security Benefits

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 50-year-old Ceylon, Minn. woman has been sentenced for stealing more than $45,000 in Social Security benefits.

On Tuesday in federal court, Tammi Marie Palmer was sentenced to three years of probation and 180 days of home confinement on one count of making a false statement for use in determining eligibility for Social Security benefits.

In her plea agreement, Palmer admitted to making a false statement to the Social Security Administration to determine if she was eligible to receive supplemental social security income benefits on behalf of her two disabled sons. Specifically, Palmer failed to disclose that her then-husband was living with her and was earning wages.

Because of her false statements, she received approximately $46,630.45 in unentitled supplemental Social Security benefits between June 2003 and January 2009.

Palmer was also ordered to serve 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay $46,630.45 in restitution.

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  • George

    Social Security is a disaster. People are adopting/having kids in their 60′s to scam the system. Average life expectancy black male: 70; white female: 80. Where is the fairness? Women get spousal benefit, men do not. Whole system needs revamping

  • Joe

    Where are you getting your info George? My dad got a spousal benefit after my mom passed away – she was only 41 and he was left with 5 kids to take care of. If you want to reap more SS benefits, take better care of yourself and live longer. Those are AVERAGE life expectancies. You might do better or worse.

  • Joe

    P.S. Ms. Palmer should be paying penalties and interest for her little scam as well as court costs. It should not be a break even deal for her.

  • SSDAdvocate

    People such as this woman keep the SSA’ Disability Determination Service backlogged, and therefore people that desperately need benefits are forces to wait sometimes up to 2 years. That’s why utilizing an attorney when applying for disability benefits may be a good idea. Go to http://www.socialsecurity-disability.org in order to get connected with an attorney today.

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