The wife of a Batavia couple who were accused of welfare fraud will serve five years on probation, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled in Genesee County Court today.
Deborah Schramm, 32, of Hutchins Place, Batavia, entered a guilty plea July 16 to attempted grand larceny, 3rd.
Originally, Schramm was charged with five counts of offering a false instrument for filing, 1st, and grand larceny, 3rd.
Her husband, Michael Schramm, was sentenced Sept. 7 to one-and-a-half to three years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to offering a false instrument for filing, 1st.
The Schramms will be required to reimburse the Department of Social Services $17,026.39.
The couple admitted to not disclosing Michael Schramm's full-time job at a farm in Niagara County from February 2011 through August 2011. During that time the Schramms were receiving financial assistance from DSS.
Cases of suspected welfare fraud can be reported to the Genesee County Department of Social Services Fraud Investigation Unit at (585) 344-2580, ext. 6417 or 6416. All calls are confidential.
Small chance the County and
Small chance the County and the taxpayers will see any of the $17K this couple stole.
Michael Schramm should never
Michael Schramm should never have been sent to prison for another free ride. If it were up to me, he'd have been working two full time farm jobs washing cow teats until restitution was made. After that, he'd work two full time jobs and his 2nd paycheck would be donated to charity for the same length of time that he illegally collected welfare.
You know Doug I find it
You know Doug I find it interesting that if a landlord fradulently evicts a tenant or violates the tenants rights and is sued he has to pay back triple damages. That is a state law. So why dont we make people that are convicted of defrauding the system we pay for then they should be paying back at least double as well. I know some say that these people wont pay so whats the point, well ask some deadbeat dads how much power the courts can exert to collect debts. Its an untapped resource in my book. Its also a slap in the face of all those that legitimately need the help that social services provides and struggle to follow the requirements they are supposed to.