So since we have been debating about what we as a society should do about those who can't do for themselves. What about this guy, who got away with stealing his mom's social security benefits for years? What really kills me here is that he didn't need much to survive on his own, but instead of at least helping his own mother out with what he didn't need, he went to bars, restaurants and bought tires for himself. Freakin rediculous. Thoughts?
Man pleads guilty to Social Security fraud
By KARIN RONNOW Chronicle Staff Writer
A 49-year-old Three Forks man illegally used his elderly mother’s Social Security benefits to buy tires, pay taxes and cover his restaurant and bar bills, while simultaneously neglecting his mother’s health and well being, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Pendelton Bernard Merriam pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud in Helena on Thursday, according to the U.S. attorney for the District of Montana.
Merriam entered his plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, was released on special conditions and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 16.
Merriam’s mother applied for Social Security disability benefits Aug. 15, 1985, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Three years later, in November 1988, her disability benefits automatically converted to retirement benefits.
Merriam applied to be his mother’s “representative payee,” and promised to use the Social Security payments for his mother’s current needs and save any “currently unneeded benefits for future use,” according to the government.
In March 2006, his mother moved into a Helena assisted-living facility. At that time she was receiving $954 in monthly benefits. Her expenses at the facility were $520 a month for food and rent, according to the government.
“Mrs. Merriam’s only other bills were her monthly cable bill and the small amount of groceries she needed for her breakfasts,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Eight months later, the manager of the assisted-living facility contacted Merriam, informing him that his mother’s health was declining, that she was unable to remember where her apartment was and had problems controlling her bladder. The next month, the manager sent Merriam a letter reiterating his concerns.
In response, Merriam visited his mother in early 2007, gave her a bath and cut her hair because it had become matted.
However, the problems continued, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, and in February 2007, the manager contacted Adult Protective Services. APS inspected the elderly woman’s apartment, and took her to the hospital for medical attention.
“The apartment was described as ‘messy,’ but the biggest issue was the urine,” the federal prosecutors alleged. “Mrs. Merriam’s bed was soaked through and the floor had urine spots in several areas. Mrs. Merriam’s chair was also soaked with urine.”
Merriam’s mother was then moved to a full-service nursing facility. A social worker there reported concerns about the woman’s well being “because she did not have spending money for her personal needs and some of her bills were not current.”
Merriam allegedly told the social worker “that he was unemployed and did not know how he would pay his bills without his mother’s monthly benefit check. He also stated he did not know how he would survive without his mother’s check,” according to the prosecutors.
The government then appointed the APS office as “representative payee” and a Social Security Administration special agent began an investigation.
The agent discovered that in addition to checks written to cover the elderly woman’s nursing expenses and cable bill, an equal amount of money was used to pay Merriam’s property taxes, buy tires for his vehicle and cover “various trips to bars and restaurants in Bozeman, Three Forks and Helena,” according to prosecutors.
In an interview with law enforcement last fall, “Merriam admitted that he used his mother’s benefits for his own personal use … has not had a full-time job since 2002, and that his monthly expenses are approximately to $270 per month.”
Merriam faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.
