WICHITA, KAN. B Two men have been sentenced in separate federal cases for Social Security fraud, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Monday.
The men, L. T. Baker, 54, Wichita, Kan., and Paul David Lieder, 40, Hillsboro, Kan., each had pleaded guilty to making false statements to the Social Security Administration in order to receive disability payments to which they were not entitled. Both were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Wichita.
Baker was sentenced to one year in federal prison and was ordered to repay the Social Security Administration $66,354 -- benefits he received while claiming to be disabled. Baker had been gainfully employed since 2000 but used a second Social Security account number that had been issued to him in a slightly different name so that the Social Security Administration would not know he was employed. Baker's fraud came to light when the Kansas Department of Revenue discovered there were two Social Security numbers associated with Baker and reported that information to the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, which investigated both cases.
Lieder was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to repay $24,000 to the Social Security Administration. He admitted using his father's Social Security number so that he could work without the Social Security Administration finding out. When Lieder's father applied for Social Security benefits, the Social Security Administration detected that Lieder had been using his father's number to defraud the disability program.
Grissom praised the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General for its investigation of the cases and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson for his prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
