Considering he was busted contesting a traffic ticket, maybe this is a situation like Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer where he's ******** in all normal situations but becomes a seasoned and capable legal mind when he enters a courtroom.
But somehow, I doubt it. I wonder if the $111,000 was worth pretending to be ******** for 20 years. I also wonder how you can legally prove that someone "illegally exaggerated their ******ation" with the intent to scam the government out of disability benefits. And how does a parent get an 8-year-old kid to go along with a plan to fake being ******** all the time? This will be an interesting one to watch....
But somehow, I doubt it. I wonder if the $111,000 was worth pretending to be ******** for 20 years. I also wonder how you can legally prove that someone "illegally exaggerated their ******ation" with the intent to scam the government out of disability benefits. And how does a parent get an 8-year-old kid to go along with a plan to fake being ******** all the time? This will be an interesting one to watch....
TACOMA, Wash. — For nearly 20 years — ever since Pete Costello was 8 — his mother has collected disability benefits on his behalf. In meetings with Social Security officials and psychologists, he appeared mentally ******** and unable to communicate. His mother insisted he couldn't read or write, shower, take care of himself or drive a car.
But now prosecutors say it was all a huge fraud, and they have video of Costello contesting a traffic ticket to prove it.
"He's like any other person trying to get out of a traffic ticket," Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Tuesday.
Pete and Rosie Marie Costello were indicted in September on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud, and the case was unsealed Tuesday. The Vancouver pair were scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on Tuesday.
Barbosa said he planned to file with the court two videos of Pete Costello taken this year: In one, he allegedly feigns ******ation during an interview with Social Security workers; the other is of him contesting the traffic ticket in a courtroom earlier this year.
The indictment accuses Costello of faking — or at least exaggerating — ******ation since August 1997, because that is what prosecutors are confident they can prove, Barbosa said. But the pair first received benefits 10 years before that.
The benefits cited in the indictment totaled $111,000.
But now prosecutors say it was all a huge fraud, and they have video of Costello contesting a traffic ticket to prove it.
"He's like any other person trying to get out of a traffic ticket," Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Tuesday.
Pete and Rosie Marie Costello were indicted in September on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud, and the case was unsealed Tuesday. The Vancouver pair were scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on Tuesday.
Barbosa said he planned to file with the court two videos of Pete Costello taken this year: In one, he allegedly feigns ******ation during an interview with Social Security workers; the other is of him contesting the traffic ticket in a courtroom earlier this year.
The indictment accuses Costello of faking — or at least exaggerating — ******ation since August 1997, because that is what prosecutors are confident they can prove, Barbosa said. But the pair first received benefits 10 years before that.
The benefits cited in the indictment totaled $111,000.
Secondly considering the numerous stupid stuff people even my age, as a young adult, does...he could of been aware and understood but went along with it, really tough to say.
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