Herkimer County Man Pleads Guilty to Social Security Fraud

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Thomas Baxter, a.k.a. Mark Anthony, age 79, of Schuyler, New York pled guilty today to 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 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 Social Security benefits, while also receiving Social Security benefits under his true name and Social Security number.

Sentencing is currently scheduled for February 23, 2021, before Hon. Thomas J. McAvoy.   Baxter faces up to 5 years in prison, and up to 3 years of supervised release as a result of his conviction. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case is being investigated by the SSA Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle.