PORTLAND, Maine — A native of Antigua was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to a total of 3½ years in federal prison on myriad counts that stemmed from his false claim to be a U.S. citizen.
Besouro Abdul Zagon, 52, also known as Earl Donald Benjamin, also was sentenced to one year of supervised release after completing his prison term, but is expected to be deported after his release.
In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge George Singal ordered Zagon to pay $198,818 in restitution to state and federal agencies. The judge also ordered that Zagon begin serving his sentence immediately.
Zagon pleaded guilty in October to seven charges, including aggravated identity theft, passport fraud and theft of student aid, health care benefits and nutrition assistance.
Singal sentenced Zagon to 1½ years in prison on all but the aggravated identity theft charge. The judge was required to sentence Zagon to an additional two years on that charge.
By pleading guilty, Zagon admitted to receiving nearly $200,000 in federal aid illegally — $15,752 in federal education aid, $56,181 in nutrition assistance, $61,000 in housing assistance and $65,842 in medical care, according to court documents.
He was indicted in April on 30 counts by a federal grand jury in Portland. In a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the remaining counts were dismissed at sentencing.
Zagon, then named Donald Benjamin, came to the U.S. and Canada in the late 1970s with a touring group from Antigua to demonstrate the Brazilian art of Capoeira, a type of martial art that incorporates elements of dance and music, according to the sentencing memorandum submitted by Federal Public Defender J. Hillary Billings of Portland. Zagon moved with his first wife to Boston in 1981. In 1986, he used the birth certificate and Social Security number of a Boston-born man whose last name also was Benjamin and was born in 1959, the month before Zagon was born, to obtain a U.S. passport under the name Earl Donald Benjamin.
Five years later, he had his name changed in a Massachusetts court to Besouro Abdul Zagon to reflect his African roots, according to court documents.
In August 2001, Zagon, his second wife and five children with her moved to Portland from Massachusetts after he obtained Social Security numbers for the children. Upon arriving in Portland, the family received federal housing assistance after Zagon falsely stated that he and his children, all of whom were born in Antigua between September 1990 and October 1996, were U.S. citizens.
The family began receiving MaineCare and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in 2002, according to court documents. Two years later, Zagon applied for and received financial aid to study massage therapy. To qualify for all of those programs, he lied about his citizenship.
Meanwhile, the real Benjamin experienced problems getting credit, buying a house, starting a business, opening a bank account and obtaining a passport, according to court documents.
“He received notices of delinquent student loans he did not borrow and of traffic tickets he was not issued,” the sentencing memorandum filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. “In attempts to clear his name, Mr. Benjamin contacted his local police departments in Aurora and Oswego, Ill., in 2005 and the Portland, Maine, police department. He reported the matter to the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration. He hired an attorney [and] wrote his congressman, Dennis Hastert. He experienced little but frustration from trying to clear his name.”
Finally, in May 2010, investigators searched Zagon’s Portland home, where they found documentation of his crimes. Since his arrest that same month, Zagon was free on $10,000 unsecured bail until his sentencing Wednesday.
He faced up to 10 years in prison on the most serious charges and two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft charge. Under the prevailing federal sentencing guidelines, Zagon faced a total sentence of between three and 3½ years in prison.
Im sure he will pay right up…LOL
Say it isn’t so! Welfare fraud in Maine? It just can’t be! Yeah right.
Wait till you get the Bill!!!!!!
there’s more money being stolen in political fraud!!!!!!!!!!
What’s your point? That it’s OK to be a thief if you aren’t a politician?
Really? That IS what you’re saying, no?
In a related story, ROBert Nutting is still Speaker of the House.
You’re related to the speaker????
correct. I would recommend going after the thieves that have money to pay back NOT the ones that have spent theirs!! Not that any of it’s right. But what did it cost to prosecute this guy and I’m sure he could never pay it back. Let’s recoup the 23 MILLION the appropriations stole from the Maine taxpayers last year and Newt Gingrich and Nutting………the list goes on…
What are they going to do about his family?? Hopefully they will send them back where they came from.
Nice work welfare worker.
I was disabled for 6 months years back tried to get assistance from state, never got any. I would have had to sell my home and car to get assistance.
Nice work state workers.
Last year’s article on this perp stated that his wife and five children (all here illegally) would be allowed to stay in the US. They should all be deported.
I agree!!!! and him too!!
$200,000! Frigging A…..and people don’t come to Maine for benefits! Bull crap
No welfare fraud here, just close your eyes…..
no political fraud, just turn your head and plug your ears
And this corrupt human being is just one of untold numbers of people doing the same thing. Come my brothers adn sister to America the true ladn of milk and honey..Everything is free here.
Nope. No welfare fraud in Maine. Nosiree, thats just a myth perpetuated by Paul LePage and the evil Republicans.
Its hard to find people like this when you have Emily Cain and others like her screaming about how what really is going on is a war against elderly and truly disabled people. It exists and we all know it does.
Emily Cain and the rest of her cohorts are banking on the fact that they have so destroyed the educational system that the average citizen can’t do simple math. The educational system is now geared towards “feelings, understanding, diversity and acceptance”; logic and rational thought is no longer taught.
Feelings, Understandiing, Diversity and Acceptance all are important things in a host of differerent situations. However the ability to be rational and see reality is very important as well.
The issue becomes cloudy when we have to be concerned about the feelings of one person or group over the feelings of others. We have to understand one viewpoint while dismissing opposing views. We have to accept even though it goes against our personal beliefs.
It’s hard to find people like this when you never look for them (as has been the past practice).
How do you look for them? Everytime it is considered the propaganda starts. You cant drug test people as that is a violation of privacy. If you report people you suspect of fraud others think your a snoop and a snitch. If you say that girls under 18 should be required to at least cover some of the expense of thier pregancies then you are a jerk. If your 20 year old cousin who went to jail for breaking into homes comes out of jail with PTSD and then claims he cant work what are you suppossed to do?
The State can’t legislate personal responsibility and honesty any more than it can morality. The only method that seems to work is what Maine’s doing now…step up enforcement by hiring more investigators. Eventually the word will get around that one’s chances of being caught in a social benefits scam are much greater than in the past and that fact alone will reduce abuse.
Your right, you cant legislate doing what is right. I had a nasty abcess that I ignored and then had to go to the ER for, all said and done I walked out owing 2000 dollars when it was taken care off. That being money I owed I made arrangements to pay it in a way acceptable to the hospital. I feel that is the right way to do things.
On contrast I had a co-worker who injured himself outside of work. He asked our boss to reduce his hours so that he could qualify for Maine Care. When that didnt work he began talking about bankruptcy. He was a kid in his mid twenties looking to get out of paying a hospital bill for a broken ankle he got in the offseason while skiing. In his mind he was doing the right thing.
Like rats. If you see 1, there are 100 you don’t see.
Hopefully they will all be deported, nope no fraud in Maine..
1) Where’s the mug shot? None of the BDN stories on this man (or other publications) have included a photo. Why not?
2) Zagon should be deported following incarceration, and his wife and five children should all be deported now. None of them are here legally, and all have benefited from the fraudulent welfare services and money.
3) Based on the harm Zagon caused the victim, and 25 years of fraudulent benefits and services, a sentence of 25 years would be more appropriate.
so I gotta ask.
he is going to be spending 3.5 years in a federal prison, costing the taxpayers an arm and a leg.
THEN he is going to be deported.
AND he has been fined $200,000.
something tells me that all that is going to come of this is the taxpayers are going to be paying for his keep in prison and absolutely NO money will ever be paid in fines. NONE
WHY did the feds not simply deport him and save a heck of a lot of money?
oh… nobody uses any judgment whatsoever…. that’s why
That would just make too much common sense and we know how OUR Government feels about using common sense, especially for the benefit of the “AMERICAN” people ……………………………
I understand the need for people to be punished for breaking the law. However I would rather see people like this man deported immediately to his home country. He has already been a tremendous burden to true United States Citizens, Legal Residents and people here legally for other reasons. The thought that he will continue to be a cost to all of us upsets me.
But if we send him home, how will he pay restitution? (sarcasm intended)
This perp is also a study in how Maine taxpayers get ripped off.
What did we learn from this man and how do we close the loopholes?
Check peoples documents is one way. My wife recently got a SS number as a permanent resident. To establish credit for her we applied for a secured credit card in her name. The application was denied due to a lack of any credit history. A company that I worked for ran peoples SS numbers to see if they matched up and found several people who were using other peoples numbers as there own. IF private business and credit card companies have it figured out then the government on state and federal levels should be able to get it straight as well.
Wow, maybe these same investigators can recoup the millions Newt has stolen and all the politicians/thieves right here in Maine!!!!! …………and I’m sure this guy can pay all that money back while he’s in prison or the first job he is sure to get when he gets out. Dah
And this ONE who they caught. Just think about
how many tuitions for the occupiers could have
been paid for for FREE!
But he’s still registered to vote in Portland. And Mike Brennan will fight to keep him that way.
If you fraud welfare you get to go to Jail.
If you fraud your Town Taxes with a Phony Tree growth shelter and the Conduct buisness as the Treasurer contray to the Maine Constitution they just tell you to Stop It!
Sounds like he was just an undocumented worker trying to make a living here and was singled out by racial profiling. (sarcastic rolling of eyes)
Perhaps Paul Violette should be “deported” somewhere and ordered to pay the full amount he stole from the taxpayers of Maine.