Mountain View Woman Pleads Guilty to Social Security Fraud

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri:

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Mountain View, Missouri, woman who used a stolen identity to enroll in college pleaded guilty in federal court today to Social Security fraud.

Laura A. Oglesby, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of intentionally furnishing false information to the Social Security Administration.

By pleading guilty today, Oglesby admitted that she fraudulently applied for a Social Security card on Jan. 14, 2016, using the personal identity information of another person, identified in court documents as “L.A.H.” Based upon her false representations, the Social Security Administration issued a Social Security card to Oglesby in another person’s name.

On the same day, Oglesby used the fraudulently obtained Social Security card to obtain a Missouri driver’s license under L.A.H.’s identity.

In 2017, Oglesby used the fraudulently obtained Social Security card of L.A.H. to enroll at a university, identified in court documents as “University A.” Using the stolen identity of L.A.H., Oglesby applied for and received financial aid to attend University A. Oglesby obtained $9,400 in federal student loans, $5,920 in Pell Grants, $337 for books purchased at University A’s bookstore, and $1,863 in finance charges.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Oglesby must pay $17,521 in restitution to the university, as well as restitution to the victim of her aggravated identity theft.

Under federal statutes, Oglesby is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Kempf. It was investigated by Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General and the Mountain View, Mo., Police Department.