Erie, Pa.
A resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 months and one day in jail and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $127,636 on her conviction of theft of government property, officials stated.
U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter sentenced Loraleigh Helen Barber, 51.
According to information presented to the court, from January 1, 2007 through August 2, 2019, Barber received $127,636 in Old Age, Survivor’s Disability Insurance benefits from the United States Social Security Administration, to which she knew she was not entitled.
Barber had served as a representative payee for her father after he died in December of 2006. She never advised the Social Security Administration and kept on receiving and spending the benefits intended for her father.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Sellers prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.