AUGUSTA — A former city woman pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Capital Judicial Center to theft by deception for illegally obtaining $9,089 worth of state welfare benefits over a 13-month period.
Shannon Marie Palmer, 41, now of Farmingdale, also pleaded guilty to three counts of unsworn falsification, all between Sept. 19, 2014, and Nov. 10, 2015, in Kennebec County.
She was sentenced to three years in jail with three months to be served and the remainder suspended and two years’ probation.
Judge Valerie Stanfill imposed that sentence after rejecting a two-year term proposed by Palmer’s attorney as well as the prosecutor. Stanfill said that the proposed term would be less than Palmer served previously on a 2008 felony theft conviction from Sagadahoc County.
There, Palmer and her husband were convicted of stealing credit cards from a 97-year-old resident of a nursing home and making more than 100 purchases totaling more than $9,000 over two months.
In the most recent case, the indictment said Palmer falsely claimed that her husband was not living with her, that he was not contributing income to the household and that she did not have any rental income.
Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said Palmer had received public assistance in January 2011, but later her husband’s Social Security Disability Income made the family ineligible for state aid.
Mitchell said Palmer reapplied for aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Aid to Needy Families in 2014, reporting that she was separated from husband and he was living elsewhere.
However, Mitchell said that was untrue, and that school officials, neighbors and others — including a woman who said she paid $600 a month rent to stay with them and that couple shared a bed in the living room — would testify at trial that Joel Palmer continued to live in the family home.
“The simple fact is, they’re poor,” defense attorney Scott Gurney said. “It’s a difficult case in that they got benefits … They didn’t go gambling, they used them to survive. It was to put food in children’s stomachs and put a roof over their heads.”
Conditions of probation require Palmer to repay $9,089 to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Palmer is to report to the Kennebec County jail on Saturday to begin serving the three-month period of incarceration.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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