BANGOR — Clinton resident Katherine Prosper was sentenced to four years of probation and ordered by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. to pay $89,864 to the Social Security Administration, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced Thursday.
Prosper, 62, also has a condition of home confinement for a maximum of six months. Prosper lied about living alone and not receiving financial help from anyone from August 2006 to March 2019 in order to receive Supplemental Security Income.
Supplemental Security Income benefits are paid to those who are blind, disabled or elderly and have a limited income. On Jan. 10, 2020, at the U.S. District Court in Bangor, Prosper pleaded guilty to repeatedly telling the Social Security Administration that she lived alone during multiple reviews of her eligibility for benefits. Prosper’s husband had sufficient income to make her ineligible for the benefits she received over the near 13-year period.
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During an interview with law enforcement agents, she admitted to concealing her husband’s presence because she knew it would deem her ineligible to receive Supplemental Security Income.
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Prosper faced up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 with up to three years of supervised release.
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