PORT ANGELES — A 46-year-old Port Angeles man has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for Social Security fraud and theft of government funds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Scott Campbell claimed to be disabled and falsely collected more than $129,790 for care of his spouse.
Campbell was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to the prison time, four months of home confinement and three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $197,140 in restitution.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Campbell engaged in an eight-year scheme to illegally collect benefits designed to assist the disabled.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle said Campbell committed a “crime of dishonesty that involved a substantial amount of money.”
“[You] cheated the government and the taxpayers out of money that should go to people who truly qualify for disability benefits,” Settle said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Campbell claimed he was disabled by a heart condition, depression and diabetes when he applied for disability benefits in 2002.
He was granted the benefits with the requirement that he notify Social Security if his status changed and he was able to work.
Campbell operated an auto repair business and several other businesses while he collected benefits, prosecutors said.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Johanna Vanderlee, an attorney with the Social Security Administration, who requested a 25-month prison sentence.
Campbell was found guilty of illegally collecting $67,350 from the Social Security Administration.
He was also accused of defrauding the state DSHS Community Options Program Entry System, which pays in-home caregivers for disabled people who need basic assistance with mobility, bed repositioning and taking medication.
Since 2003, Campbell and his wife claimed that she needed caregivers for her disability.
“In fact, she was operating a business, and the caregivers were relatives who were paid a small amount from each state check to falsely claim they were assisting in the home,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a prepared statement.
The total loss to both programs was $197,140.
The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, State Patrol and state Department of Social and Health Services investigated the case.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
