Two sent to prison for stealing government assistance

A Cleveland woman was sentenced to prison for collecting her deceased mother’s Supplmental Security Income benefits for more than 30 years, said Acting U.S. Attorney Carole S. Rendon. 

Barbara J. Clark, 63, was sentenced to six months of incarceration and ordered to pay $188,973 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.

Clark pleaded guilty last year to a one-count information for theft of public money. Clark began stealing her mother’s SSI benefits after she died in June 1983, and she continued to withdraw money from their shared account until she was caught in August 2014. The Social Security Administration discovered Clark’s mother’s death through the Medicare Non-Utilization Project, according to court documents.

In an unrelated case, Kathryn Pulley, 60, of Garfield Heights, was sentenced to eight months in prison for stealing more than $58,000 in SSI benefits. 

Pulley pleaded guilty last year to a one-count information for theft of public money. She concealed her marriage and cohabitation with her husband from the Social Security Administration in order to receive benefits to which she was not entitled.  From June 2007, and continuing until April 2015, she fraudulently received $58,033, which she was ordered to repay in restitution.

Both cases were prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Sanniti following investigations by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.