A Plymouth woman pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state on a charge of welfare fraud as a Level 6 felony.
According to a release from the Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office, 56-year-old Helen Richards received a total of $27,168 in welfare benefits from Feb. 1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2015. During that time, she did not report that she resided with her husband who was generating income for the household through employment, and with whom she shared a checking account.
Richards was sentenced in Marshall County Superior Court No. 1 to 30 months in the Indiana Department of Corrections with 24 months of that sentence suspended to be served on probation. Six months of her sentence will be served with Marshall County Community Corrections. She was ordered to pay $27,168 in restitution to the Family Social Services Administration of the State of Indiana. That restitution amount is to be paid in full by the time probation is completed.
