A Eunice man was sentenced to more than three years in prison after admitting he cashed his aunt's disability checks for years after she died.
Scotty Paul Fournerat, 50, was sentenced to two 37-month sentences, to run concurrently (or at the same time), followed by two three-year terms of supervised release, also to run concurrently.
U. S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Fournerat also was ordered to pay restitution of more than $49,000 to the Social Security Administration.
The SSA reported that Fournerat's aunt failed to appear for a redetermination hearing in October 2017 and that's when the SSA suspended her payments and began investigating. They found that she had died on January 2, 2012, some five years earlier, but they were not made aware of her death.
SSA determined that two days following M.V.’s death an unidentified individual changed the bank account associated with her account so that the payments would route to Comerica Bank and the payments could be accessible by debit card.
Fournerat admitted to using the debit cards to access the SSID funds for his own personal use by making purchases and ATM withdrawals at various locations in St. Landry and Evangeline Parishes. He admitted that he had not applied for the program funds and that he knew the funds were for the sole use of M.V. while she was alive, but yet he willingly and knowingly used the funds for his own personal benefit.
Fournerat pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of government money on March 22, 2023.
This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danny Siefker.
