A woman who admitted to stealing $113,640 over seven years by continuing to cash her dead mother’s Social Security checks is going to jail for one month.
Lorrie Ann Guzman pleaded guilty in January to a single count of theft of public money, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright handed down the one-month sentence Thursday. As part of the sentence, Guzman will have to submit to federal court supervision for three years after she completes her jail term. She also has to repay the money she stole at a minimum rate of 10 percent of her monthly gross income.
Guzman’s mother, Charlotte Jean Salvador, died Feb. 3, 2006. Guzman admitted she continued to cash her mother’s Social Security checks until July 2013, when federal investigators confronted her. She told the investigators she took the money out of greed and used it to support her family because she didn’t work.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Shanlyn Park told Seabright that Guzman now has a job and has already paid $850 toward her restitution. She asked Seabright to sentence Guzman to five years of probation instead of jail.
While a defendant is on probation or supervised release, the court is able to monitor their income and, if necessary, can garnish wages for restitution.
Park told Seabright that Guzman will probably not be able to satisfy the full amount of her restitution. But, she said, Guzman would be able to pay back more money while on five years of probation rather than the maximum recommended three years of supervised release.
Seabright said he imposed a jail term because of the length of time over which Guzman committed her crime and because of the amount of money she stole.
Guzman told Seabright she knows what she did is wrong and apologized. She said the only way she will feel better about herself is by repaying everything, “till my dying day.”