A Wisconsin man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting he concealed assets and income, receiving nearly $300,000 in disability benefits he was not entitled to while routing more than $1 million through an undisclosed bank account over several years.
A federal judge, United States District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller, handed down the 18-month term after Antonio Franklin, 47, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for a multi-year scheme. Court filings say Franklin repeatedly failed to report financial information that would have affected his eligibility for multiple benefit programs. The scheme stretched from January 2020 through March 2025 and produced nearly $300,000 in unlawful benefit payments.
Officials say Franklin received payments from three government programs: Title XVI disability benefits administered by the Social Security Administration, Wisconsin Supplemental Security Income from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and “I Respect, I Self-Direct” (IRIS) benefits also administered by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Those programs exist to help people with disabilities secure food, housing, and personal care services. By hiding assets and income, the government says Franklin kept benefits he was not entitled to.
Prosecutors allege Franklin owned a bank account he never disclosed to benefits administrators, and that more than $1 million flowed through that account during the period investigators examined. The government’s calculation of loss focused on the benefit payments Franklin received while concealing the account and related income. At sentencing, the court ordered restitution equal to the unlawfully received benefits.
Judge Stadtmueller emphasized deterrence as a key sentencing goal and pointed to the broader harm caused when people hide income to access taxpayer-funded programs. The court made a point of discouraging others from using similar tactics to exploit systems designed to assist vulnerable people. Restitution and imprisonment were framed as tools to protect program integrity and public trust.
Investigators from the U.S. Social Security Administration Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit (CDIU) in Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation and Medicaid Fraud Control and Elder Abuse Unit led the probe. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carter B. Stewart. Authorities described the arrest and conviction as part of ongoing efforts to clamp down on benefit fraud.
“The people of the United States are fed up with being fleeced by fraudsters. Federal law enforcement authorities have no higher priority than uncovering and stopping fraud and incarcerating those who commit it,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel. “If you steal from the taxpayers, we are coming to lock you up, especially when the money is taken from programs designed to help our neighbors most in need of help.”
Charles Briscoe, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, offered a statement on the case’s broader meaning. “The sentencing in this case demonstrates the serious consequences of committing fraud against SSA’s benefit programs designed to help those in need,” said Charles Briscoe, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General (SSA OIG), Midwestern CDI Division. “This investigation exemplifies how SSA OIG works closely with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation and U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect the integrity of Social Security programs and pursue justice against those who seek to undermine them.”
“Defrauding government benefits programs is unacceptable,” said AG Kaul. “Thank you to those who secured the conviction and sentence in this case.”
Federal officials noted a recent organizational shift intended to sharpen the government’s response to fraud. On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division to aggressively investigate and prosecute theft and misuse of taxpayer dollars. DOJ officials tied that effort to President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
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