Glen Cove Woman Convicted After $900K Fraud, Claimed To Be Totally Disabled: DOJ

GLEN COVE, NY — A Glen Cove woman and former United States Postal Service employee was convicted on charges related to wire fraud and falsely claiming disability benefits of about $40,000 per year for nearly 25 years, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday.

A federal jury in Central Islip convicted Luann Middleton, a former USPS worker, on Sep. 11 after a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, the DOJ said.

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She faces up to 20 years in prison and financial penalties, the DOJ said.

"For more than 20 years and until her lies caught up to her, the defendant refused to come to work and instead collected tax-free disability benefits for a highly-exaggerated injury," U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said.

According to the DOJ, Middleton was in her mid-forties in August 1997, when she claimed she suffered an injury to her lower back while working as a postal clerk. After submitting a claim for compensation to the DOL, she received workers' compensation benefits about three months later, the DOJ said.

A doctor determined Middleton was capable of working so she returned to work in a "limited duty capacity" in February 1999, but then claimed a recurrence of her back injury, "which rendered her totally and permanently disabled," the DOJ said.

Middleton received workers' compensation benefits from the DOL, equaling about two-thirds of her annual salary, tax-free, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, from November 1997 to September 2022, she submitted paperwork to the USPS and DOL claiming she was completely disabled and "could sit, stand, walk, bend, lift and reach above her shoulders for zero hours and could not participate in any physical activities because of her excruciating back pain."

Upon investigation, over a seven-year period from October 2015 to March 2022, it was determined that Middleton could participate in physical activities and daily tasks, such as cleaning out a garage, stand for more than one hour at a cookie decorating class, shopping, climbing stairs, and sit through a movie for more than two hours, the DOJ said.

There was also video footage showing Middleton lifting and carrying groceries and laundry bags, bending to the floor, and lifting potting soil from her shopping cart to her car, the DOJ said.

The DOJ said that Middleton received more than $900,000 in fraudulent workers' compensation benefits.

The government's case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office's Long Island Division, the DOJ said. Assistant United States Attorneys Charles P. Kelly and Ashlyn Miranda are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Samantha Schroder, Legal Assistant Danielle Rompel, and Automated Litigation Specialist Michael Compitello, the DOJ said.