Melvin Roy Hunter, 71, of Salt Lake County, was ordered by the court to 14 months’ home detention as part of a 40 months’ probation sentence and ordered to pay $105,301.30 in restitution.
U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart imposed the sentence after Hunter admitted to wire fraud in April 2024. Hunter fraudulently received government benefits from the Social Security Administration and other government agencies by assuming the identity of a deceased individual from September 2015 to September 2023.
According to court documents and statements made at the change of plea hearing, Hunter, who is approximately the same age as the deceased, obtained the deceased’s birth certificate, Social Security number, and other personally identifiable information and falsely obtained a Utah driver’s license in the name of the deceased.
Hunter then used this assumed identity to fraudulently open a Wells Fargo checking account and obtain money from the United States.
Hunter fraudulently received funds from the United States Social Security Administration, the United States Medicare and Medicaid programs, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the United States Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), and funding for the federal Corona Virus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
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