Arlington man pleads guilty to federal fraud

An Arlington man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of federal funds.

Carwin Shaw, 33, faces five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Social Security Administration, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. Shaw was employed at the Grand Prairie Social Security Administration office.

The administration lost more than $78,000 as a result of Shaw’s actions, according to the release.

Shaw and three other Arlington residents were indicted in May in a scheme involving the replacement of checks that they claimed had been lost or stolen. Then computer records for the beneficiaries were altered so that the agency could not recover any of the allegedly lost or stolen money.

Shaw split the money with the beneficiaries of the duplicate checks after they were cashed. He persuaded other Social Security employees to co-sign administrative waivers that stopped repayment to the government after duplicate checks were cashed.

Amanda Johnson, 35, April Harvey, 36, and Lanusha Lemmons, 25, all of Arlington, were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and one count of theft of government funds. Lemmons pleaded guilty in November to her role in the conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13. Johnson and Harvey are to go on trial Jan. 12.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Arlington man pleads guilty to federal fraud."