The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Premium woman gets probation for scheming to get food stamps




A Premium woman was placed on supervised probation after pleading guilty to amended charges of making false statements to obtain $15,375 in public assistance benefits.

Beverly Eileen Banks, 435 Bee Tree Branch, pleaded guilty in Letcher Circuit Court to two counts of false statement/misrepresentation to receive benefits more than $500, two counts of failure to report change in factors determining eligibility to receive benefits more than $500, and two counts of devising a fraudulent scheme to receive benefits less than $10,000.

Letcher Circuit Judge Sam Wright recently signed an order placing Banks on probation under supervision of the Department of Corrections for five years subject to Banks complying with conditions of probation. As part of the order, Banks must refrain from violating the law, pay a $15 supervision fee each month, a drug-testing fee of $10 each month, $130 in court costs, a $1,000 fine and $15,374.54 in restitution to the Division of Family Support.

This sentence is to run concurrent with any sentence imposed in a federal action now pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Banks was indicted on charges of making false statements in order to receive public assistance benefi ts totaling $4,287 from the state Food Stamp Assistance Program. Banks also made a false statement in order to receive $11,088 from state Kentucky Medicaid Assistance Program.

Authorities say that for a six-month period between January 1, 2009 and June 1, 2010, Banks failed to disclose that the father of her child was a member of her household or that he had a substantial income during that time period.



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