Retired railroad worker must pay restitution, serve prison sentence in disability fraud case

A retired Norfolk Southern railroad brakeman was sentenced Wednesday to pay nearly $275,000 in restitution for disability payment fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

David E. Hunnicutt, 58, of Macon, also must serve a year and one day in prison and a year under supervision upon his release, according to a news release issued Friday.

Hunnicutt pleaded guilty April 2 to making a false statement regarding disability payments he received from the Railroad Retirement Board, according to the release.

After working for the railroad for more than 20 years, Hunnicutt filed for disability in 2002 and received payments from 2002 to 2013.

An investigation later determined Hunnicutt falsely reported he wasn’t otherwise employed in 2002 to 2012 although he was owner of Mid-Georgia Tractor Service, Inc., a landscape design, lawn maintenance and irrigation business, according to the release.

U.S. Attorney Michael Moore issued a statement Friday saying, “The system is geared to help those who need it, not serve as a means of additional income for those who are not truly disabled.”

Moore went on to say that claims like Hunnicutt’s put the disability compensation program “in jeopardy by draining funds meant to help those who need it.”

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Retired railroad worker must pay restitution, serve prison sentence in disability fraud case ."