COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – An Eastover woman was sentenced to over one year in federal prison after she pled guilty to stealing over a quarter of a million dollars in government funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
61-year-old Crystal Deveaux pled guilty to stealing over $258,000 in Social Security Retirement Insurance Benefits from 2001 to 2020 on behalf of her dead grandmother, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
A release from the DOJ states that Deveaux did not disclose her grandma’s death, and continued to cash checks on her behalf for Deveaux’s own benefit.
During that time, Social Security Administration also paid over $22,000 in Medicare premiums for the dead grandmother. Meanwhile Deveaux “was a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient herself and was wrongly paid $22,875.00 as she had unreported income; and she failed to report her husband’s Veteran’s Administration (VA) benefits, causing her to be paid another $23,751.42 by the Social Security Administration.”
United States District Judge Sherri A. Lydon sentenced Deveaux to 15 months in federal prison which will be followed by three years of court supervision.
