Cases | 828 N.E.2d 125 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005) | 2018
The defendant was convicted of theft after fraudulently receiving social security payments for a child who had not been in her custody for nine years. The defendant had received $64,111 in payments over nine years and family members testified that only a small portion was spent on the child. The defendant was ordered to pay $60,905 in restitution to the Social Security Administration. The defendant appealed, arguing the order of restitution was improper because the amount was not supported by evidence. The appellate court found the amount had been determined by reducing the total fraudulently received payments by the small portion (5%) thought to have been spent on the child and that the records of the social security payments and the testimony of family members supported this determination. The order of restitution was affirmed.