SEBASTIAN COUNTY, Ark. — Two former Republican members of the Sebastian County Quorum Court were sentenced Monday (June 27) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas at Fort Smith to prison and ordered to pay restitution following their guilty plea in March to social security fraud.
Stephen Schwartz, age 55, was sentenced to 6 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and Rebekah Schwartz, age 44, was sentenced to six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. They were ordered to pay restitution, jointly and severally, to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $167,756.60.
“The Social Security Administration is set up to make funds available to those who are truly in need because of a disability. However, through their criminal conduct, Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz lined their own pockets with this money that was intended to help those with legitimate disabilities,” United States Attorney David Clay Fowlkes said in a statement. “Our office will continue to pursue fraud cases such as this one and will continue to seek to protect programs like this, which are designed to help some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
The couple faced up to 10 years in prison.
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