Ex-corrections officer gets 5 years probation for fraudulently collecting benefits [The Buffalo News, N.Y.]

May 22—A former state corrections officer who admitted to fraudulently collecting worker's compensation and Social Security disability benefits was sentenced Wednesday by State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek to five years of probation, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said that between August 2021 and Nov. 7, 2022, Charles Epps II, 56, of Buffalo, falsely claimed that he was unable to work because of an injury he suffered in July 2020 while working for the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. During that time, Epps fraudulently collected a total of $52,542 in benefits while also employed as a bus operator.

Epps pleaded guilty to single counts of third-degree insurance fraud and third-degree grand larceny, both felonies, on March 6. As a condition of the plea, Epps signed two Confessions of Judgment to pay full restitution of $35,545 to the New York State Insurance Fund and $16,907 to the Social Security Administration. He was ordered to pay the restitution during his period of probation.

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