SEATTLE — Two longtime scam artists from Mill Creek are headed to federal prison after bilking nearly $300,000 from government programs designed to help the poor and people living with disabilities.
Anthony George was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for Social Security fraud. His wife, Roxanne George, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months in a halfway house for defrauding state and federal assistance programs. The couple was ordered to pay back the nearly $300,000 they stole over more than a decade.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Anthony George in 1982 was issued a second Social Security number under the name Sonny Fisher. He used his bogus identity to apply for disability payments.
At numerous interviews over the years the Georges said that Sonny Fisher was profoundly disabled and unable to work. Investigators say Anthony George, 37, worked as a used car salesman, lived in a $430,000 home and had more than $10,000 in his bank account.
Roxanne George claimed to be a single mother of three children and failed to report that she lived with her common-law husband, Anthony George. She fraudulently obtained $67,510 in food, health care and financial assistance from the state.
Six other people were indicted in the fraud investigation. Two have pleaded guilty. Four others are scheduled to go to trial in March.
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