United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

BRIDGEPORT MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SOCIAL SECURITY THEFT

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RALPH BOLLING, age 57, pleaded guilty today to the theft of Social Security benefits. BOLLING, of 814 Laurel Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut, appeared before Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven and admitted his guilt.

At the plea proceeding, a federal prosecutor told the Court that a criminal investigation revealed that from approximately January 1993 through May 2000, BOLLING stole Social Security benefits totaling $62,280 from a bank account of his deceased aunt. Although BOLLING served as the informant on his aunt's death certificate, he failed to report her death to the Social Security Administration or to Fleet Bank where his aunt had an account. Fleet Bank account records confirmed that ATM withdrawals continued for more than seven years after the death of BOLLING's aunt. BOLLING admitted that he possessed his aunt's only ATM card and, after his aunt's death, he had used her ATM card to withdraw money that represented Social Security benefits.

BOLLING faces up to 10 years of imprisonment, followed by a three-year period of court-supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000 when Judge Burns sentences him on April 2, 2004.

"Federal benefits are awarded to qualified beneficiaries and the theft of those benefits undermines the integrity of the Social Security system," U.S. Attorney O'Connor stated.

BOLLING has agreed to repay the $62,280 that he stole.

This case was investigated by special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Penny Collender.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov