Social Security employee in SC stole benefits from disabled kids and adults
A South Carolina woman is going to prison after pleading guilty to stealing Social Security benefit money for her personal use, prosecutors said.
Kianna Parrot was a claims specialist for the Social Security Administration when she used her government computer to steal more than $70,000 that was supposed to be used for disabled children and adults, acting U.S. Attorney Lance Crick said in a news release.
On Friday, the 31-year-old Florence woman was sentenced to prison after being convicted to accessing a protected computer for purposes of stealing benefits from disabled social security beneficiaries, according to the release.
From September 2017 to June 2018, Parrot defrauded beneficiaries out of Supplemental Security Insurance payments, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
In her scheme, Parrot diverted payments meant for legitimate beneficiaries to her own account, according to the release. She did this by accessing Social Security records of the beneficiaries and issued a payment in their name and Social Security number — but listed her own bank information, the U.S. Attorney said.
Parrot stole thousands from “the most vulnerable members of society ... disabled adults and children who have limited income and resources,” it said in the release.
After changing her plea to guilty, Parrot was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, with no chance of parole, followed by three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
The maximum penalty Parrot could have received was 10 years in prison.
