Back in March I wrote about this family in Washington State, where the mother conviced her son and daughter to pretend to be retarded so that they could collect free money from the government.
My point (for those who don’t want to follow the link) is that if you give something free away, someone will always want it, even if it shouldn’t be theirs.
The son was sentenced this last week
A Vancouver man was sentenced Friday to 13 months in prison for pretending to be mentally retarded in order to claim disability benefits.
Pete J. Costello, 28, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to defraud the government and to Social Security fraud. He began receiving disability benefits when he was 8. He was ordered to repay the $59,226 he has received since turning 18.
(snip)
Costello’s mother, Rosie Costello, 46, who also pleaded guilty, is to be sentenced Thursday for coaching her son and daughter to feign mental retardation. Authorities have not found the daughter.
The daughter isn’t far away. She was in town recently, incognito, to watch the trial.
If the police hadn’t been distracted by the presence of of Sheryl Crow, they probably would have noticed her.
(Pssst! If you don’t know who Laurie David is, go here)
Isn’t there a case to be made that she’s not faking it?