Social Security Fraud Leads to Prison Sentences for Two Area Men

ATLANTA, GA — Two men from the Atlanta area will serve time in federal prison for stealing Social Security checks sent to their deceased parents, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday

John W. Jackson Jr., 70, of Decatur, and Corry Sandlin, 68, of Marietta, lied to the government about their parent’s deaths and fraudulently received more than $500,000, the prosecutors said.

Both cases of fraud were uncovered by the U.S. Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General.

In Jackson's case, his father died in 1980, but the Social Security Administration (SSA) continued to pay his retirement benefits until 2014. When questioned last year by Social Security agents about his father's whereabouts, "Jackson told the agents this father had run away with a younger woman a year prior and he did not know where his father was," the federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The agents eventually learned that Jackson's father had died decades earlier. In total, Jackson improperly received $241,171.60, prosecutors said.

In Sandlin's case, his mother died in 2004, but the SSA continued to pay her spousal retirement benefits and Defense Finance & Accounting Services continued to pay her survivor benefits. In total, he improperly received a total of $271,819, prosecutors said.

"Sandlin not only never informed the SSA of his mother's death, he completed and submitted 11 annual certifications to DFAS swearing that she remained eligible for the benefits," the prosecutors said.

Jackson has been sentenced to 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution totaling $241,171.60. He pleaded guilty on July 25, prosecutors said.

Sandlin has been sentenced to one year and three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution totaling $254,965.14.