One Defendant Admits Receiving Nearly $175,000 by Submitting/False Fraudulent Mileage Claims
DALLAS — Two former U.S. Postal Service letter carriers from the Dallas area have been indicted, in unrelated cases, on charges of stealing government funds with regard to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (OWCP) claims they filed, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.
In the most recent case, Keldrick Hamilton, 33, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas last week on one count of mail fraud and one count of theft of government money. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a personal recognizance bond. If convicted, however, the maximum statutory sentence for mail fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory sentence for theft of government money is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. Trial is set for August 8, 2011.
The OWCP allows federal employees who sustain on-the-job injuries to receive medical payments and compensation benefits, including reimbursement for medically-related travel. According to the indictment charging Hamilton, from July 2002 to January 2003, he worked as a letter carrier at the Joe Pool Station in Dallas. Citing an injury that occurred while delivering mail, in 2002 he filed a Federal Employee’s Claim for Continuation of Pay/Compensation. The indictment alleges that from January 2007 through mid-November 2010, he ran a scheme to defraud the Department of Labor (DOL) and OWCP by fraudulently claiming mileage reimbursements for physician and rehabilitation appointments which he did not attend.
In the other case, Shuntreciya Anderson, 28, a former letter carrier at the Caesar Clark Station in Dallas, pleaded guilty in April 2011 to one count of theft of government property. In 2005, she filed a claim for workers’ compensation citing an injury that occurred while delivering mail. She admitted that she filed claims for mileage reimbursement for medical appointments she did not attend, thereby defrauding the DOL and OWCP of more than $173,000 which she received as a result of her fraudulent claims. She is scheduled to be sentenced on August 1, 2011, and faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution.
The cases are being investigated by DOL-Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wiley and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Toussaint are prosecuting.
source: United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas