Man Who Faked Retardation Into 20's For Government Benefits Gets Prison

Part of his scam was frequenting the Truther sites.

Yet another update. I remember this guy getting caught a while back, after arguing, fluently and more or less intelligently, about a traffic ticket. Which prompted an investigation.

A Vancouver man was sentenced Friday to 13 months in prison for pretending to be mentally retarded in order to claim disability benefits.

Pete J. Costello, 28, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to defraud the government and to Social Security fraud. He began receiving disability benefits when he was 8. He was ordered to repay the $59,226 he has received since turning 18.

Costello, who cannot read or write, dictated a letter to his public defender that was submitted to the judge before sentencing and filed in court.

"I know that it was wrong to 'act like a child' in the Social Security office when that is not how I really am," the letter said. "I feel very bad about this and want to do everything I can to pay this money back."

...

Pete Costello continued to fake retardation into his mid-20s — picking at his face, slouching and appearing uncommunicative in meetings with Social Security officials.

His mother coached him and and his sister to fake being retarded. The mother is due to be sentenced this week; the sister's whereabouts are unknown.

The government's case consisted almost entirely of this hidden-camera footage of Pete, or "Donnie with a D" as he often called himself:

Thanks to dri.

posted by Ace at 05:34 PM

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