Back in 2003, my mom passed away from cancer. At that time,
I split a bank account at Bank of America (BOA) with her to make everything pass easily from her to me.
She got sick in March, I was put on the account in April and she died in July.
I did contact the bank that she had passed but for some reason their paperwork
was not updated in all the systems. We moved from Las Vegas to Orlando in 2004
and I just left the account the way it was cause I figured it didn’t matter.
Who cared if her name was still on the account? I should have.
At the time of her death, she was receiving some government
benefits that had to do with the Veterans Administration and my dad's military enlistment, etc. He had passed away
in 1988 (when I was 14) and she received benefits because of it. I thought the
benefits were like a pension. I did report to the VA (as well as Social
Security, Nissan, the US government incl the IRS and every other place I knew)
that she had died and sent all of the proper information. I figured everyone
got everything. I thought (as almost anyone else) that whatever payments kept
coming in, they were just a payout/inheritance. Wow was I wrong. Apparently,
the VA did not receive the paperwork (and I have zero way to prove that since
we had faxed everything 14 years ago) and they incorrectly kept depositing
payments. I was made aware of this oversight in April of 2017 when I had 2
federal marshals at my door wanting to speak with me. I wasn't home. They said
for me to contact them. I contacted a lawyer cause I started to panic. The
lawyer contacted them and we all had a huge discussion about those 14 years of
payments. This happened late May 2017.
Apparently those 14 years of payments should not
have still been deposited and since I had just left my mom’s name on the bank
account (I didn’t but BOA didn’t process it correctly), I was in BIG trouble
with the US Government. The VA decided to press charges and gave the case to
the US prosecutor on a felony charge of grand theft. Grand theft of almost
$180,000 from the US government.I went and pled guilty in October 2017 BECAUSE there was zero chance of winning. I had used the money - they could prove that. I didn't have the faxes that I sent to them. They have a 99% conviction rate and everyone who goes to trial ends up with maximum sentences. Mine would be like 30 months in Federal prison. Almost everyone thought I would get home confinement since I have ZERO criminal record. The judge felt I needed to be taught a lesson so he sent me to prison for 6 months. He was generous with his sentence, he could have sent me there for 30. I thank him for the shortest sentence possible. When he said imprisonment, my first thought was "like the people on tv?" That was how naive I was. I never knew anyone who got arrested or imprisoned. I had no reference for what I was about to go through.When I spoke with BOA after I was charged, they said they could not believe that her death slipped through the cracks and that she should have been automatically removed from the account. Even if I hadn't notified them, there are processes in place that are supposed to flag when people die. BOA had no explanation for what happened and that they were very sorry. So let me understand this, the Veteran's Administration made mistakes, Bank of America made mistakes and I made mistakes. Who ended up paying? ONLY ME. Who ended up taking responsibility? ONLY ME. Who ended up with their life completely derailed? ME.
I was sentenced in January 2018 to 6 months in Federal Prison. I was ordered to go to FMC Carswell in Texas (with 4 day notice before my self surrender). I spent 6 months in prison February 6 to August 3, 2018. I have 3 years probation. I have a lifetime sentence of "FELON".
