But is isn’t going to happen. These people are an exception to prove a rule.
A Seattle couple living in a lakeside mansion will now make their home behind prison bars after being sentenced to 18 months each for welfare fraud.
Chiropractor David Silverstein, 60, and Lyudmila Shimonova, 53, were given the maximum sentence during Friday’s court appearance. The pair had previously pleaded guilty to related offenses.
The couple was living in a million dollar home, complete with boat dock, as they collected $1,200 each month in housing assistance, prosecutors said.
The program has a long waiting list, KING-TV reported.
During the long-running fraud, the duo received $261,703 in improper rent subsidies, food stamps and medical benefits, the federal complaint said.
They carried out the scam by painting Shimonova as a low-income mother paying rent to landlord Silverstein.
Over 10 years, Shimonova received more than $100,000 in state and Social Security benefits while owning a $12,500 platinum and diamond ring and $17,000 diamond earrings.
The couple drove a Jaguar.
A classic example of the fallacy of the welfare state was ODB at the MTV Movie Awards.
There’s lots of local stories of drug dealers being busted and the courts discussing that they were getting paid by the system while making vast sums of money dealing illegal drugs. And of course public housing project parking lots aren’t exactly filled with lousy cars.
Nah, those cases will go untouched…these people got pinched because they got cocky.
