Postal Workers Accused of Compensation Fraud

5 Marylanders Allegedly Received Disability Pay, Then Were Employed Elsewhere

A federal grand jury in Greenbelt yesterday indicted five U.S. Postal Service workers from Maryland on charges of fraudulently receiving more than $200,000 in workers' compensation benefits.

All five collected the benefits after claiming they had been injured, federal authorities said. The benefits are supposed to go to people who are disabled because of injuries. But the defendants continued working at other jobs while asserting on workers' compensation forms that they had no other income, according to the indictments.

For instance, James R. Carter, 47, of Clinton, a mail carrier at the Twinbrook post office in Rockville, said he injured his back in March 1999.

For four years, beginning in March 2000, Carter received workers' compensation benefits that totaled more than $93,500, according to the indictment in his case.

Carter continued to receive income from multiple sources even as he was collecting workers' compensation funds, the indictment alleges.

From February 2002 until early September 2003, Carter received more than $13,000 from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, International Motorcars of Suitland and Effective Staffing Inc. in Herndon, according to the indictment against him.

In addition to Carter, the defendants were identified by federal officials as Gary S. Brown, 47, of Waldorf; Karin A. Gadson, 37, of Largo; Kyana C. Washington, 24, of District Heights; and Offried K. Williams, 49, of Upper Marlboro.

The amount of workers' compensation money the defendants allegedly obtained unlawfully ranges from the more than $93,500 received by Carter to the $11,000 in benefits received by Brown, according to federal officials.

Brown and Washington both worked at a postal facility in Waldorf, and both filed workers' compensation claims for back injuries.

During the time they claimed to be disabled, the defendants received income from a variety of sources, according to the indictments.

Gadson worked as a postal carrier in the District, according to the indictment against her. In April 2003, she began receiving workers' compensation benefits for a back injury she claimed to have sustained the previous year, according to the indictment.

Until this month, Gadson had received more than $40,000 in workers' compensation benefits, according to the indictment.

In the same period, Gadson was a licensed barber and part-owner and manager of Perfect Cuts Unisex Barber Shop in Capitol Heights, the indictment alleges. Federal officials allege that Gadson received income from the barbershop, but it did not provide a specific amount.

Williams was an electronics mechanic at the Brentwood postal facility in the District, according to the indictment against him. Williams, who said he suffered an acute reaction to stress, received more than $35,700 in workers' compensation benefits covering an extended period, according the indictment.

During the time he was receiving benefits, Williams was paid $107,647 in real estate commissions and payments for work he did for a property company, according to the indictment.