Trucker Falsely Claimed Wife was Truck Driver to Collect $50K in Disability Benefits

Texarkana, TX – A Texas truck driver pleaded guilty to theft after it was discovered he unlawfully collected thousands of dollars in disability benefits while working as a trucker.

According to court documents filed in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas, Thomas Joe Green falsely claimed $58,000 in Social Security (SSA) disability payments between January 2015 to October 2017 while he was working as a truck driver.

Green began receiving SSA disability benefits in 2009.

However, he continued receiving benefits even after he went back to work as a truck driver in 2015, according to court documents.

Green admitted he continued collecting the benefits by falsely indicating his wife was the one working as a trucker.

“In 2017, in order to keep receiving SSA disability benefits, my wife and I filed amended income tax returns for the years 2015 and 2016 to falsely indicate that she was employed as a truck driver in order for her to claim my income as her own,” Green’s plea agreement states.

His wife did not even possess a commercial driver’s license (CDL), according to his agreement.

Green faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000, or both.

Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.