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Press Release
LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Randy P. Courville, 53, of Milton, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to serve 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release for theft of government money. The judge also ordered Courville to pay $324,818 in restitution.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Courville received Social Security disability payments from early 1995 until March 2012, even though he continuously worked as a self-employed painter. He owned his own business called R.T.’s Painting, which was later changed to Affordable Painting. Courville’s wife and three children also received benefits during this time. Courville was notified by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that if his medical condition improved and if he was able to go back to work, he was obligated to immediately notify the SSA. At no time between 1995 and 2012 did the defendant notify SSA that he was able to work or that he had completed any type of work. Courville pleaded guilty on Feb. 15, 2013.
United States Attorney Finley stated, “There are many people who are disabled and need Social Security to make ends meet as they struggle to get back on their feet. This defendant was motivated by greed and made a conscious decision to lie about his ability to work. We will continue to prosecute these types of cases to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Uebinger prosecuted the case.