Oswego County Woman Indicted on Charges Related to Theft of Social Security Benefits

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York:

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Lisa Waldron, age 44, of Palermo, New York, was arraigned Friday on a federal indictment charging her with multiple counts of Theft of Government Property and Social Security Fraud, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Sharon B. MacDermott, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Office.

The charges in the 25-count indictment relate to Waldron’s misuse and theft of Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) benefits intended for the care of Jordan Brooks, her disabled son. Waldron was Jordan Brooks’s representative payee at the time she committed the alleged offenses, which occurred both before and after Brooks’s death on May 9, 2021. A representative payee is a person or organization who received Social Security benefits on another person’s behalf and is tasked with ensuring the benefits are used only to support the beneficiary.

Waldron was released on existing conditions of supervision monitored by the Oswego County Probation Department from a pending case in Oswego County Court.

If convicted, Waldron faces a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised of up to three years. 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.The charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Tuck.