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Ex-Chicago police commander spared prison for collecting dead mom’s Social Security checks for years
Chicago Tribune ^ | 3 Dec 2019 | Jason Meisner

Posted on 12/03/2019 2:09:00 PM PST by csvset

A former Chicago police commander once considered a rising star in the department was spared federal prison Tuesday for pocketing more than $360,000 in Social Security payments intended for his mother that he continued to collect for nearly 25 years after her death.

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah sentenced Kenneth Johnson to two years of probation and ordered him to serve the first six months in community confinement, likely at the Salvation Army.

. In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Manish Shah said Johnson’s decision to betray the public’s trust was “infuriating.” “How many times (as a police commander) did you plead with people to come forward and accept responsibly for something?” Shah said. “Yet all that while, there was a crime being committed that you knew all about, and you did nothing to stop it.”

Johnson, 55, pleading guilty in May to theft of government funds, admitting he bilked the Social Security Administration out of a total of $363,064 from the time of his mother’s death in May 1994 to November 2017 when the scheme was uncovered. In seeking up to two years in prison, federal prosecutors revealed in a court filing that Johnson withdrew some of the stolen funds from an ATM at the Englewood District police station. In 2016, Johnson used stolen funds to pay for a hotel room in Phoenix, according to the filing. Two months later, he used other Social Security payments for round-trip airfare to Los Angeles to attend a “crime-fighters conference,” prosecutors said.

The scheme was eventually unraveled by a watchdog arm of the Social Security Administration that red-flagged Johnson’s mother’s account in 2017 because she had not used Medicare, even though at that point she would have been 96, according to the prosecution filing..

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Arizona; US: California; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: 336k; arizona; california; chicago; chicagotribune; cpd; englewooddistrict; illinois; jasonmeisner; kennethjohnson; losangeles; manishshah; medicare; phoenix; salvationarmy; socialsecurity; ssi
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To: csvset
Click on it. Sheesh.

YOU click on it and see what you get......Sheesh!

41 posted on 12/03/2019 2:37:18 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Never take a centipede shopping for shoes)
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To: dynachrome
Oh, ffs, never underestimate greed, especially amongst relatives. Where’s my cut ? 🤔🤫😵
42 posted on 12/03/2019 2:38:07 PM PST by csvset (tolerance becomes a crime when attached to evil)
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To: csvset

Why does it take extraordinary sleuthing to find this?

Why doesn’t the federal government get informed by social security number of all people when a death certificate is written?

(Also, why bank was allowing him to deposit and cash checks that were not written in his name? Did some bank allow him to keep an account open in her name, when she was dead? How would they report tax interest information? What about federal tax filing? )


43 posted on 12/03/2019 2:39:37 PM PST by CharlesWayneCT
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To: csvset

LAWS ARE FOR LITTLE PEOPLE.

44 posted on 12/03/2019 2:43:58 PM PST by seawolf101 (Member LES DEPLORABLES)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

In every case I know, the funeral home notified SS. And payments stop pronto, while people are encouraged to sign up 6 months in advance to begin collecting.


45 posted on 12/03/2019 2:45:30 PM PST by gloryblaze
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To: CharlesWayneCT
Since it was a joint account and electronic fund transfer, no need for a signature. The tax issue on the other hand... 🤔
46 posted on 12/03/2019 2:46:39 PM PST by csvset (tolerance becomes a crime when attached to evil)
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To: bigbob

What for? A corrupt Johnson is a corrupt Johnson, and it looks like both stepped on theirs.

Chicago PD has low expectations in the integrity department, so the error was understandable.

;^)


47 posted on 12/03/2019 2:48:14 PM PST by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: Kickass Conservative

I think it’s more that he’s a cop rather than his being black. Lots of blacks go to prison. But very few cops get jail to no matter what they do.


48 posted on 12/03/2019 2:48:28 PM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: csvset

I wonder if there were IRS filings ... via the post office. That would be additional felony charges.


49 posted on 12/03/2019 2:50:29 PM PST by taxcontrol (Stupid should hurt - dad's wisdom)
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To: csvset

If a white non-cop did that, he’d be in jail.


50 posted on 12/03/2019 2:51:18 PM PST by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: null and void

Does this count?


51 posted on 12/03/2019 2:51:33 PM PST by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: from occupied ga

>>>But very few cops get jail to no matter what they do<<<

Is Hillary a Cop?


52 posted on 12/03/2019 2:54:23 PM PST by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: wastedyears

Hmmm Dunno, I usually look for violence under color of law and/or perjury to protect members of the club or convict the innocent.

What are your thoughts?


53 posted on 12/03/2019 2:59:50 PM PST by null and void (Convicted spies are shot, traitors are hanged, saboteurs are subject to summary execution...)
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To: wastedyears

Here’s a tip if you’re going to steal SS checks from the elderly. The administration expects old folk to visit dr’s and hospitals. When someone goes 35 years w/o such a visit, the light goes on. Motto of the story; find an oldie to visit the doctor using Mama’s Medicare card.


54 posted on 12/03/2019 2:59:50 PM PST by JonPreston
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SMH...Justice system is non existent....


55 posted on 12/03/2019 3:03:38 PM PST by TnTnTn
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To: CaptainK

You’re obviously a racist!/sarc


56 posted on 12/03/2019 3:04:19 PM PST by Eagles6
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To: carriage_hill

The cop must have said: “Dead?? She just looked kinda sick to me”


57 posted on 12/03/2019 3:05:45 PM PST by frank ballenger (End vote fraud & harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
...to serve the first six months in community confinement, likely at the Salvation Army... U.S. District Judge Manish Shah said Johnson's decision to betray the public’s trust was "infuriating." ...he bilked the Social Security Administration out of a total of $363,064 from the time of his mother’s death in May 1994 to November 2017 when the scheme was uncovered. In seeking up to two years in prison... a watchdog arm of the Social Security Administration that red-flagged Johnson’s mother’s account in 2017 because she had not used Medicare, even though at that point she would have been 96...
The sentence is infuriating, and that's because of the judge. Thanks csvset.

58 posted on 12/03/2019 3:09:50 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: csvset
Manish Shah - the judge - was recommended by Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk.

Shah was confirmed 95-0 by the Senate.

Gosh - I wonder what it means when zero Democrats vote against a nomination?


59 posted on 12/03/2019 3:12:30 PM PST by zeestephen
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To: Kickass Conservative

How is that relevant?


60 posted on 12/03/2019 3:12:33 PM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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