BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — An Alabama man was sentenced for devising a scheme pretending to be his dead father to defraud Jefferson County’s retirement plan, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Felix A. Rivera-Esparra.
Gary Gibbs Jr.,52, was sentenced to one year and one day for wire fraud. Gibbs was also ordered to pay $132,646.12 restitution to the General Retirement System for Employees of Jefferson County. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May.
According to the plea agreement, Gibbs’ father was a former employee of Jefferson County who was receiving benefits from the General Retirement System for Employees of Jefferson County. GRS is a retirement plan that provides benefits to retired and disabled employees of Jefferson County. Beginning in Sept. 2017 and continuing until Feb. 2022, Gibbs concealed his father’s death from GRS and collected money from GRS to which he was not entitled.
He used his father’s personal identifiers and forged his father’s signature on documents submitted to GRS to further his scheme. Also, he assumed his father’s identity during telephone calls with GRS employees.