There’s been another development in the saga of the Michigan woman who won $1 million in the lottery but continued to collect food stamps. The state’s attorney general announced today that the woman had been charged with welfare fraud.
According to authorities, the woman collected a total of $5,475 in public assistance between Aug. 2011 and March 2012, when the state read about her story and pulled her benefits.
She’s been accused of failing to inform welfare officials of her winnings. The state alleges she also continued to mention that she was employed for five months in 2011 but continued to receive benefits.
If found guilty, each charge could result in up to four years in prison.
Michigan lottery winner charged with welfare fraud [USA Today]
More From Consumerist
-
Probation For Lottery Winner Who Continued To Collect Food Stamps
-
Cashier Allegedly Scammed Lottery Winner Out Of $5 Million Ticket, Waited 6 Years To Cash It In
-
Man Stuffed $4 Million Lottery Ticket In Cookie Jar, Forgot About It For 3 Months
-
Even If You Don’t Win The Powerball Jackpot, Check Your Ticket For Second Place
-
Lying To Customer About A Winning £1M Lottery Ticket To Claim Winnings Himself Earns Man Deportation In UK
I hope she does get some jail time. It’s cases like these that put so much stigma on welfare for families that really need it.
I came into this thread to say this.
I have to agree, for years I’ve been disgusted that every single case of welfare fraud I’ve every seen reported the worst sentence the welfare cheat ever recieved was they had to pay back the money to wrong got, even when they were caught multiple times trying to cheat the system.
I’ve always said if bank robbery was handled the same I’d rob a bank every day at lunch and lock the money away someplace safe so if I was caught I’d pay them back and go on my way as eventually I’d get away with it at least once.
+1.
You do realize that it costs $60,000 per year to incarcerate someone? Why would you spend $60k to punish someone who “stole” $5K? Doesn’t that seem a little “extreme” to you???
You’re effectively advocating that we let this person continue abusing the system for 11 more years so the amount unjustly taken from public funds reaches some sort of parity with the actual cost for the government to enforce consequences. Good luck discouraging people from abusing the system. Without principles people will just walk all over the system. Just give them a little bit here, and a little bit there, and eventually it’ll get completely out of control because consequences are based on comparative cost instead of principle. I’d rather spend the $60k sending this person to jail for stealing $5k from the public and discourage other people gaming the system than let dozens of people nibble away at the funds when they don’t qualify.
I’d rather fine her $60k and make her do community service.
I’d rather see her fined 100x the value of the stolen money, not some pittance. She’s not taking money from the government, she’s taking food from every family that will have to go without welfare when the bullshit “reform” laws are passed that purely screw deserving people out of assistance.
I’d give her the option of paying back the $5k, + 1/2 the amount it would cost the state to incarcerate her to avoid jail time… or just go to jail.
Too bad she doesn’t have the money to hire a good lawyer. Ohhh, wait…
Meth is expensive.
except that the fact that the same stupidity that put a perfectly healthy 25 year old on welfare also led her to blow all the money.
Well to be fair August shouldn’t count since she didn’t win until September.
9/11!
She was on welfare when she had a job, is the point. That’s a separate charge from the fact that she hid her lottery winnings from them.
I can’t believe the Republican-run Michigan government is trying to punish this poor single mother. It seems no one can live the American Dream without their meddling.
Not sure if serious…
When was the last time TMM was serious?
The crustacean is reverse-trolling.
She should use the money to get a nose job.
Wow. Body-snarking. How clever.
Seriously: http://straightfromthea.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/4979322.jpg
Nice dog. And the K-9 ain’t bad, either.
Don’t get it reduced; rent it out as a summer cottage. It’s huge!
“All the better to snort blow with!”
Good god, and I thought I had a honker… mine’s PUGGY compared to that thing o.0
I wouldn’t put her in jail but I’m fine with fining her a large sum.
Also, “The state alleges she also continued to mention that she was employed for five months in 2011 but continued to receive benefits. “
huh?
She was committing welfare fraud before she won the $1,000,000
At least she’ll have a well funded commissary account!
See if government joined the 21st century and linked all of their various databases reasonably, we won’t have to worry about cases like this.
The second that the lottery folks helped her fill the appropriate tax forms the info should have been available for the appropriate agencies to immediately update and flag their information.
Yea but then it would only take 1 weak database/computer system to get into EVERY account in the State.
I hope she is fined 1 mil
Any journalists out there up for the challenge to try and do this type of investigation nation-wide?
She felt like it was ok to keep collecting it since she has bills to pay, like 2 houses. Wow. It seems greedy humans can justify anything.
Gotta get more of that lottery winnings back to the state, right?
/snark
Not that I at all agree with what the woman did, but to me this is the people at the state trying to save face after they screwed up
Came here to say that.
The dingbat was supposed to report this to the State herself.The State didnt screw up for very long.
she’ll be back on welfare again.
Hey, what about Michigan’s most elligible bachelor Leroy Fick?? He did/does the same thing….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/19/leroy-fick-lottery-winner-food-stamps_n_864113.html
Yes!
It’s like when big lottery winner say that they plan on keeping their jobs, even though they don’t need to work. Sure she doesn’t need welfare anymore but, darn it, she’s not going to let the money change her, no sir.
I would definitely keep it for a while, until I got everything set up. It takes some time to make a decent financial plan. Then I would quit. But I don’t have a job right now, so I don’t have to worry about it. Bring on the money!
She continued to mention she was employed?
Funny that people are concerned about a $5k welfare fraud case and YET no ONE has gone to jail for the mortgage crisis. I guess $5k > $3 trillion.
The employment is a definite thing she’ll be screwed on.
I still don’t feel bad for her trying, though. But if she lied to get around the rules, and that lying is illegal (it almost always is) she gets the consequences she invited. Had she disclosed her situation as far as is legally required and still collected, then good for her. Sounds like she didn’t, though.
Yeah, good for her to stealing from taxpayers…….. wait what?
I’m not getting the stealing for taxpayers thing. If she’s following the rules, she’s just getting back some of the money the government already stole from her. Good for her to get back what they took against her will.
Unless, of course, you’re one of the weird ones who feels good every time they pay taxes. To me, I feel bad. I feel like someone took that money and I didn’t want them to have it. If I have an opportunity to get some of it back without breaking the law, hells yeah, I will, and I don’t care what someone else says about it.
Of course, in this case, she seems to have broken the law. That was dumb. Declare it all and see what they do about it. Weirder things happen.
So, the state is going to possibly take her to court, send her to jail, fine her (thereby reducing whatever money she has left from her lottery win), which will likely put her back on welfare.
How is this a win for the state?
/not saying what she did was right.
Can’t you do simple math? She will be just fine.
Did you bother reading the article? She has TWO houses and the original interview said she bought a new car. What makes you think she has anything substantial left?
She’ll be back on welfare soon enough.
If the two houses are in detroit, that totalled with the car comes out to a total cost of $30,010.
Assuming the car is reasonably nice, of course.
She was on welfare when she had a job and didn’t tell them about it, is the point. That’s a separate charge from the fact that she hid her lottery winnings from them.