Contact: Chris Ruge
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Barbara Phillips, 66, of Franklin, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to two years of probation and fined $3,000 for theft of public money. She was also ordered to pay $31,496.37 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.
According to court records, from about August 2011 until December of 2013, Phillips withdrew social security funds being deposited in her deceased mother’s checking account. In all, Phillip’s stole over $31,000 by drafting checks to herself from the decedent’s account.
The investigation was conducted by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.