Man Pleads Guilty to Trucking While Taking $8,000 in Benefits

Friday, August 17, 2018 | 0

An upstate New York truck driver pleaded guilty this week to perjury after receiving almost $8,000 in workers' compensation benefits while continuing to work.

Roger Decker, 48, of Lee Center, New York, gave false testimony in a hearing and falsified documents as part of a job application with the state, New York Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott's office said.

An investigation found that Decker was injured while working for an Oneida County trucking company in 2004. He began collecting benefits after that and later testified at a Workers' Compensation Board hearing that he had not worked for more than a decade.

In fact, he worked for at least two trucking companies, Scott's office reported. In total, Decker received $7,875 in Workers’ Compensation benefits in 2016.

The investigation also found that Decker submitted documents in late 2017 as part of his job application for highway maintenance worker position with the New York State Department of Transportation that falsely indicated he had never been injured while on the job. Decker was terminated from that position upon his arrest in June.

“This defendant’s false testimony and filings were part of a series of fraudulent actions meant solely to enrich himself with financial benefits to which he was not entitled,” Scott said. 

Sentencing is set for Oct. 18.