Former Parole Agent, 80, Sentenced For Social Security Fraud

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — An 80-year-old San Jose man has been sentenced in federal court in San Jose to two years in prison for using a false identity to defraud the government of $275,000 in housing and Social Security benefits over more than two decades. Donald Jason-White was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Beth Freeman, who also ordered him to pay $275,000 in restitution.

He pleaded guilty before Freeman in November to three counts: aggravated identity theft for use in a false passport; one count of wire fraud in receiving undeserved Social Security payments; and one count of mail
fraud in receiving fraudulently obtained housing subsidies.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed 12 other fraud and false statements charges in a 2016 grand jury indictment.

According to prosecution filings, Jason-White found the identity he wanted to steal by searching the birth and death records in the Los Angeles County Hall of Records in 1992 and selecting the identity of a deceased person with similar characteristics.

He later said he wanted the fake identity in case something "bad" happened and he needed to flee the country.

In 1994, according to prosecutors, Jason-White began receiving U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 subsidies under the false name.

In 2005, prosecutors said, he obtained a passport under the false name and obtained Social Security benefits under that name while also receiving Social Security payments under his true name.

In all, Jason-White received about $105,000 in fraudulently obtained Social Security payments and $170,000 in fraudulently obtained housing subsidies, according to the indictment.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Graham Archer wrote in a sentencing brief that the housing subsidies were similar to the amount Jason-White could have obtained in his own name.

Archer said the fraudulently obtained Social Security payments averaged $795 per month, and when combined with his genuine benefits of $934 per month enabled him to live a "modest but safe existence."

Jason-White has graduate degrees and previously worked as a Los Angeles County parole counselor, a state parole agent and manager of a small real estate brokerage in Los Angeles, according to court documents.

The U.S. State Department began an investigation in 2014 after he applied for renewal of his passport under the false name and also applied for a passport under his true name.

Jason-White was arrested in 2016 in San Jose. He is due to begin serving his sentence on April 4.

By Bay City News Service

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