A Sayre man has been sentenced after he concealed his mother’s death for 17 years and continued to collect benefits.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 76-year-old Richard Burke was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay back $350,000 that he collected.
Burke was ordered to pay over $45,000 to the US Social Security Administration and over $305,000 to the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to court documents, Burke’s mother died in March of 2005. She had been receiving benefits because of her spouse who had died before her and was a military veteran.
Burke continued to collect the benefits until March of 2022. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September.
