Louisiana Man Sentenced to Prison After Stealing Funds from the Federal Retirement Benefits Program

Louisiana – On July 8, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Michael R. Matherne (“Matherne”), 62, of Slidell, Louisiana, was sentenced to six months in federal prison on June 7, 2022, after pleading guilty as charged to an indictment for Theft of Federal Funds on July 22, 2021. Matherne was also ordered to pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee by the Court.

According to the indictment, the Retirement Survivor Insurance Benefit program (“RSI Program”) was run by the Social Security Administration (“SSA”), a government agency in the United States. The RSI Program’s goal is to provide retirement benefits to certain people, including widows and widowers.

Matherne never informed the SSA of his spouse’s death and continued to deposit the spouse’s SSA checks into their joint bank account after his spouse died. Matherne received monthly SSA benefits totaling approximately $75,838 from December 2012 to March 2019, which he deposited into their bank account and used for his living expenses.

The Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Carter K. D. Guice, Jr. prosecuted the case.