A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to five years in prison after he was accused of hiding his father's death to steal his Social Security and pension benefit payments.
56-year-old Timothy Gritman, of Brodheadsville, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and Social Security fraud on Feb. 13, 2023, after an investigation found that he stole $204,985 of his late father's benefits.
“Timothy Gritman chose dollars and cents over a dignified death for his dad,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero. “He had been living off of his father Ralph’s retirement benefits for years, even before his father’s passing — and after it, went to significant lengths to keep that money coming in. With today’s sentence, he’s finally being made to answer for his criminal greed.”
Investigators say his father, Ralph Gritman, was last seen alive by his family in 2016 when he was 79 years old and in poor health.
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Then, in the summer of 2017, both men moved to Wyoming where the father's health benefits were used in September at a hospital for an emergency visit.
The father's health benefits were never used again.
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Detectives think Ralph Gritman died around October of 2017. It's alleged that his son Timothy hid his father's death from their family.
It's also believed that Gritman disposed of his father's body, but it remains unclear how.
Since Gritman never reported his father's death, he was able to claim his Social Security payments and pension benefits from 2017 to 2022.
In that five-year time span, Gritman lied to government officials. He even posed as his father several times by using makeup to make himself look older.
"His behavior is unacceptable, and this sentence holds him accountable for his criminal actions,” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration.
Gritman still has not shared what he did with his father's remains or where they are. Investigators have not yet found his father's body after multiple searches.
Gritman was ordered to pay $83,188 to the Social Security Administration and also $110,897 to the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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