Court sentences man who misused benefits

BANGOR – A Bangor man was ordered Tuesday to complete three years of probation and six months of home detention after being convicted earlier of illegally using Social Security benefits earmarked for his mother for six years after her death.

Crawford Wayne Adams, 52, was ordered to pay $53,388 in total restitution, according to court records.

The sentencing took place at U.S. District Court in Bangor. U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal presided.

Adams reportedly lived with his mother, Elizabeth Adams. She collected Social Security benefits from December 1992 until her death in April 1994. The Social Security Administration was notified of her death, but monthly checks kept coming anyway and were deposited electronically in her account at a local credit union. Crawford Adams had legal access to the credit union account and used the money for six years after his mother’s death. The checks stopped coming in August 2000, according to a court document.

In another sentencing, a Meddybemps man with at least one alias was sentenced to 19 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after being convicted on three counts: making a false statement on a passport application, possession of fraudulent identification documents and false use of a Social Security number. Christopher Michael Wakin, 32, also known as Cristian Van Vleit Gindrat, attempted to get the passport Sept. 25, 2001, in Bangor.