EAST ALTON WOMAN SENTENCED TO 14 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR STEALING DISABLED DAUGHTER’S SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – An East Alton, Illinois, woman was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison 
for stealing her disabled daughter’s Social Security funds.   The sentencing hearing was conducted 
this morning in Federal Court in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The  Social  Security  Administration  administers  the  Supplemental  Security  Income  (“SSI”) 
program.   SSI provides a minimum level of income to aged, blind, and disabled individuals who have 
limited resources.   Disabled children are eligible to receive SSI benefits.   For children, SSI 
benefits are paid to a representative payee, who is responsible for handling the funds and 
reporting to the Social Security Administration.   Federal law requires that all SSI funds must be 
used for the benefit of the disabled child.

According  to  court  documents,  Melissa  D.  Wasylak,  49,  applied  for  her  disabled  daughter 
 to receive SSI benefits.   Wasylak was appointed as her daughter’s representative payee.   In 
2008, Wasylak’s daughter stopped living with her and went to live with Wasylak’s ex-husband.   
Despite this  fact,  Wasylak  continued  to  receive  her  daughter’s  SSI  funds.   As  part  of  
her  guilty  plea, Wasylak admitted that she did not use those funds for her daughter’s expenses, 
but instead used the SSI monies to pay her own personal expenses.   This continued until the 
situation was reported to the Social Security Administration in May of 2019.

In addition to the 14 month prison term, the court also ordered Wasylak to serve a two year period 
of supervised release following her release from prison.   The court further ordered Wasylak to pay 
$58,345 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Office of the Social Security Administration – Office of 
the Inspector General.
Assistant United States Attorney Scott Verseman prosecuted the case.