Louisiana Man Sentenced to Prison After Receiving Deceased Relative’s Social Security Funds For Multiple Years

Louisiana – A man from Louisiana was sentenced to prison after it was discovered that he had been receiving his deceased relative’s Social Security funds for multiple years.

United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that a man from Eunice, Louisiana has been convicted in the Western District of Louisiana for theft of funds from the Social Security Administration.

Scotty Paul Fournerat, aged 50, was given a prison sentence of two 37-month terms by Judge James D. Cain, Jr. The two prison terms will be served concurrently, followed by a supervised release of 3 years, also served concurrently. Fournerat is also required to pay $49,792 in restitution to the SSA.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), a participant in the Title XVI Supplemental Security Income Disability (SSID) program called M.V. in the case, and also the aunt of Fournerat did not attend a redetermination hearing in October 2017. As a result, the SSA stopped giving payments to M.V. because she did not cooperate with the redetermination process. After investigating the matter, the SSA discovered that M.V. had actually passed away on January 2, 2012, five years prior, but they were not informed about her death. The SSA also found out that shortly after M.V.’s death, someone unidentified changed the bank account linked to her account so that the payments would go to Comerica Bank, where they could be accessed using a debit card.

Fournerat confessed to using the debit cards to obtain and spend the SSID funds for his own personal gain. He used the funds to make purchases and withdraw cash from ATMs in different places within St. Landry and Evangeline Parishes. Despite knowing that the funds were intended solely for M.V. during her lifetime and that he had not applied for them, Fournerat still knowingly and willingly misused them for his own advantage. On March 22, 2023, Fournerat pleaded guilty to two charges of stealing government money.

The Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, conducted an investigation into this case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Danny Siefker was responsible for prosecuting it.