Poplar Bluff woman sentenced on Social Security fraud charges

A Poplar Bluff woman was sentenced to nearly a year in federal prison Monday and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution for defrauding Social Security.

Roxie Lax, 30, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment on two counts of making a false statement of a material fact in determining rights to payment and three counts of converting payments of another by U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Limbaugh also ordered Lax to pay $102,234 in restitution.

Upon release from prison, Lax will be placed on a three-year period of supervised release.

With her earlier plea, Lax reportedly admitted in 2002 she applied to the Social Security Administration on behalf of her minor child and herself as survivors of father/husband David N. Lax who died on July 6, 2002.

According to the rules of the Social Security Administration "Survivors" Program, Lax was eligible for benefits herself as long as she had custody of her daughter and as long as she used all of the money for the care of said child.

At Lax's request, the Social Security Administration selected her as the payee for the purpose of receiving the surviving child's monthly Social Security Insurance Benefit payments thereafter.

Lax reportedly admitted she understood and agreed to promptly notify the Social Security Administration and to promptly return any benefit check she received if the check was for a month in or after the month in which Lax no longer had care of the child.

In February, special agents with the Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations and Social Security Administration received information alleging Lax was receiving mother's benefits and child's benefits for her daughter, but had intentionally failed to report that the daughter was actually residing with her grandparents in Kentucky.

Investigation revealed the daughter had permanently lived with her grandparents since she was 9 months old and Lax had not used the Social Security payments for the child's care.

Lax's benefits were terminated and the grandparents were designated as representative payees.

Social Security calculated an overpayment to Lax in the approximate sum of $102,234 due to her false statements and conversion of the daughter's Social Security benefits.