A man who held jobs as a truck driver, among others, is going to spend nearly five years behind bars for fraud.
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut sentenced Ricardo Santiago to 57 months of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, $371,686 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment.
Santiago previously pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
According to a release from the court, between 2002 and 2024, Santiago held jobs with over 20 employers and earned over $500,000 in income, including work as a truck driver with a commercial driver’s license for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration-regulated entities. Santiago concealed this income from Federal and State Government agencies by providing employers false identification, including a Social Security number (SSN) and card belonging to another individual and a false Social Security card.
Beginning in 2002, Santiago collected over $316,000 in Retirement Survivors Disability Insurance benefits by falsely representing that he was unable to work due to a disability.
Beginning in 2017, Santiago made over $18,000 in purchases using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits he received by falsely claiming that he earned no income from employment. In addition, from April 2020 to February 2021, Santiago received over $36,000 in unemployment insurance benefits by using another person’s SSN and claiming that he was unemployed but available and physically able to work.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
