Greenbelt, MD – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis recently sentenced Ronald S. Repass of Poolesville, Maryland, to five years of probation on the federal charge of making false statements or fraud to obtain federal employees’ disability compensation and ordered Repass to pay restitution in the amount of $22,000. Repass admitted that he falsely claimed that he was unable to work, even though he had worked at various jobs between June 2016 and February 2019, for which he was paid.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Imari R. Niles of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Derek Pickle, of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General (OIG).
As stated in the indictment, the Department of Labor’s Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs (“OWCP”) administered major disability compensation programs which provided wage loss benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits for federal government employees who became disabled during the performance of their duties.
According to the indictment, beginning in October 1989, Repass was employed by the U.S. Postal Service at the Poolesville Post Office in Montgomery County, Maryland. Repass was a rural carrier on December 5, 2014, when he filed a workers’ compensation claim after he fell and hurt his right shoulder. OWCP granted his claim on February 11, 2015, for a “right rotator cuff tear” based on a finding that Repass was not able to perform any of the routine duties of his job. Repass began receiving benefits of approximately $3,227 per month on February 22, 2015.
The Department of Labor required disabled employees to annually sign and complete a form certifying that they had not worked for the past 15 months. The disabled employees were also required to immediately report any improvement in their medical condition or any part-time or full-time employment. In 2016, 2017, and 2018, Repass signed and submitted the form stating that he had not worked for any employer, nor was he self-employed or involved in a business enterprise, despite that fact that during those years Repass worked part-time as a snow plow driver, as a service advisor at an automotive repair shop, as a field supervisor for a home improvement company, as a plumber, and he installed window blinds and mowed lawns, all in exchange for compensation.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the U.S. Postal Service OIG and U.S. Department of Labor OIG for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Hollis R. Weisman, who is prosecuting the case.
Source: US Attorney’s Office