A federal judge on Monday ordered Pamela Neal to repay $71,880 in Social Security survivor benefits that she admittedly continued to collect for eight years on behalf of a child after the benefits expired.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller also sentenced Neal to five years of probation in connection with her Dec. 18 guilty plea to a charge of theft of government money or property.
Although Neal faced eight to 14 months in prison for her crime, defense attorney Molly Sullivan of the federal public defender's office in Little Rock argued that she should receive a probationary sentence because of the circumstances of her case and the need to keep working to repay the money.
Sullivan didn't identify all the circumstances, which were contained in a presentence report that isn't available to the public, but said Neal has been in mental-health counseling. Sullivan also noted that Neal's husband, from whom she "can't seem to get a divorce," is in prison for attempting to kill her and her boyfriend by setting their car on fire.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Morgan told the judge that his office wasn't opposed to a probationary sentence in Neal's case. He said that as soon as investigators knocked on her door to confront her about continuing to collect the payments, "she readily admitted wrongdoing and expressed a desire to pay the money back."
Miller groused about the number of federal defendants who steal money and are able to receive probation, which he called a "quite lenient" sentence. He said, "It seems like stealing $72,000 would be a big deal, and it doesn't seem to be."
But ultimately, Miller agreed to the probationary sentence, noting that Neal's stint in prison would be so short and so expensive for taxpayers that it would almost be counterproductive. He also took into consideration Morgan's argument that in admitting to the crime, Neal is different from most white-collar criminals who will fight a theft charge "tooth and nail" and insist that the government prove every element of the crime.
Miller imposed conditions on Neal's probationary sentence, including that she be on electronic monitoring with location monitoring for one year and that she participate in substance-abuse treatment and mental-health treatment at her own expense of up to $40 a month.
Metro on 03/08/2018