PORTLAND, Maine — A Kennebunk couple was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to probation on welfare fraud charges.
Carol Welch, 53, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay more than $38,000 for benefits she admitted she fraudulently received.
Scott Welch, 45, was sentenced to one year of probation for lying about where he lived so his wife could receive benefits, according to information filed on the court’s electronic case filing system. He was not ordered to pay restitution because he did not receive the benefits.
Both waived indictment and pleaded guilty to charges in August. They had been free on personal recognizance bail.
Carol Welch pleaded guilty to one count each of Social Security fraud and theft of government money. Scott Welch pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement.
Between September 2010 and July 2013, Carol Welch received Supplemental Security Income from the Social Security Administration, according to the prosecution version of events to which she pleaded guilty. She received Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits between December 2009 and May 2013.
She would not have been eligible for those benefits had she admitted her husband lived with her and the grandchildren she was caring for, according to court documents.
Scott Welch in June 2013 submitted a letter to the Maine Department of Human Services that stated he had been living with his sister for the previous decade when he been living with his wife.
Assistant U.S. attorney Julia Lipez said she recommended Scott Welch receive the sentence U.S. District Judge George Singal imposed. Lipez urged the judge to sentence Carol Welch to one year of probation with six months of it to be served as home confinement, she said.
Scott Welch faced up to five years in federal prison.
His wife faced up to 10 years in federal prison on the theft of government money charge and up to five years behind bars on the fraud count. Both faced fines of up to $250,000.