SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Thomas Baxter, a.k.a. Mark Anthony, age 80, of Schuylerville, New York was sentenced today to three years’ probation for defrauding the Social Security Administration (SSA) by using a false identity to collect Social Security benefits under that identity for over a decade.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and John F. Grasso, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Office.
As part of his earlier guilty plea, Baxter admitted that in 1971 he fraudulently applied for and was issued a second Social Security number in a fictitious name, and that from September of 2008 until June of 2019, he used that false name and fraudulently acquired Social Security number to obtain and spend $31,362.00 in Social Security benefits, while also receiving Social Security benefits under his true name and Social Security number.
Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy also imposed an order requiring Baxter to pay full restitution to SSA.
This case was investigated by the SSA Office of the Inspector General and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle.
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| Component | USAO - New York, Northern; |
| OIG | Social Security Administration OIG |