Truck Driver Guilty of Double Dipping on 2009 Injury

Tuesday, December 17, 2019 | 0

Deangelo Speed was injured in 2009 while working as a pizza deliveryman. Almost a decade later, he was still collecting benefits when investigators discovered that he was also working as a truck driver.

Deangelo Speed

Speed, 28, pleaded guilty this month to workers' compensation fraud and was ordered to pay almost $7,600 in restitution, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation announced.

“If you can climb in and out of a truck and drive for hours, then you shouldn’t be collecting workers’ compensation benefits,” said BWC Administrator/CEO Stephanie McCloud. “Thanks to a tip and our investigation, Mr. Speed had to learn this lesson the hard way.”

Speed received temporary disability benefits between 2009 and 2016, but investigators determined that he was driving trucks in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The bureau also announced the convictions of two other workers on double-dipping charges and one employer on charges of failing to obtain comp insurance:

• Elwood King, of Perrysburg, pleaded guilty to one count of workers’ compensation fraud after BWC found he went back to work for two companies while collecting temporary disability benefits. The judge ordered King to pay BWC $5,172 in restitution, which has been recovered in full, and granted him seven days' credit for local jail time served.
• Carolyn Motley, a Cincinnati licensed practical nurse, pleaded guilty in November to one count of workers’ compensation fraud after she was found to be working for two employers while receiving temporary disability benefits. The judge sentenced her to five years of probation and ordered her to pay $7,306 in restitution. If she violates the terms of her probation, she will have to go to jail for 180 days, the bureau said.
• Michael Bilas, of Struthers, pleaded guilty to failure to comply, a second-degree misdemeanor, after BWC found him operating his company, Michael J. Bilas Leasing LLC, without coverage. Investigators found Bilas had amassed large debts due to claims and outstanding premiums on two previous BWC policies but failed to work with the agency to bring his company into compliance. Bilas received a 90-day suspended sentence and one year of probation. He must also comply with a BWC audit.