PORTLAND — A suspect who claimed that he was living alone in Cornish for five years, collecting Supplemental Society Security benefits, when he was actually living with his wife in New Hampshire, has been convicted of fraud.
James C. Robinson, 60, was found guilty of fraudulently obtaining $45,473 in Supplemental Security Income benefits and making false statements to a government agency following a two-day trial at U.S. District Court in Portland. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on two other charges. His conviction was announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank.
SSI benefits are paid to people with limited income who are blind, disabled or elderly.
Documents on file at the federal court allege Robinson “knowingly and willfully” claimed to be living in Maine from 2008 to 2013, while he was actually living with his wife, Hope Robinson, in Concord and that she had provided him with financial assistance.
She died in 2015; prosecutors said that James Robinson, both prior to and after her death, concealed the income he had received as a result of their marriage for the purpose of collecting benefits.
According to Frank, had Robinson been truthful, he would have been ineligible for benefits.
Robinson pleaded not guilty to the charges in August.
In 2015, according to information contained in court filings, Robinson told SSI investigators that he had been married to Hope Robinson, but that the two did not live together in Concord and that he lived in Cornish and traveled back and forth between the two communities during the course of their marriage.
Frank said Robinson faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by SSA, Office of the Inspector General, as well as the Maine Department of Health & Human Services’ Fraud Investigation & Recovery Unit.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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