Augusta, Georgia: A Lawrence County man admitted to working as a truck driver for several years while claiming federal disability benefits.
Douglas Adam WestDexter, Georgia, 41, faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to theft of government property, said David H. Estes, federal attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Convicted, West is demanding $49,863 in damages and being released under supervision for a period of time after being imprisoned. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Disability fraud is a plague of a system designed to provide a safety net for people who can’t truly hold down employment,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “Those who abuse the system for their own selfish purposes only make deserving recipients more difficult.”
West began receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits in September 2004, as documented in court documents and testimony. The Social Security Administration’s Fraud Division opened an investigation into him in August 2018, and found that West had been employed as a truck driver since at least 2015. He receives a disability pension.
West faces sentencing before U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen after the U.S. Probation Service completes its pre-sentence investigation.
The case was investigated by the Inspector General’s Office of the Social Security Administration and the Office of the Director of the Georgia Department of Insurance and Fire Safety and was indicted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer A. Stanley.
