A Chula Vista woman who unlawfully collected disability payments for 15 years has been ordered to pay $168,712 to two government agencies.
U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino placed Mary Guadalupe Soto, 77, on five years probation with no jail time. She ordered Soto to start paying the restitution off at a rate of $250 per month.
Soto applied for Supplemental Security income in April, 1999, but did not disclose she owned a house and property in Tijuana until November 2014.
Rules for SSI say people cannot possess or own more than $2,000 in assets in order to collect disability.
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a press release that Soto collected $147,762 in SSI payments and approximately $21,000 in Medi-Cal benefits over 15 years. Soto pleaded guilty to theft of public property.
Soto’s attorney said Soto had a fall in 1987 that broke her leg which resulted in her eventually collecting disability and had another fall in 2012 in which her back was broken.
Her husband is deceased, and she will go live with her daughter. He filed court documents that listed some of her ailments including diabetes.
