Couple pleads guilty to welfare fraud

The Daily Inter Lake

A Kalispell couple has been convicted of defrauding the government out of almost $8,000 in food stamp benefits.

During a change-of-plea hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Jeffrey Alan Albrecht, 42, and his wife, Lisa Shanks Albrecht, 42, pleaded guilty to government program fraud.

According to court records, the Albrechts lied on welfare applications to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services between April 2005 and December 2007, eventually receiving more than $7,000 in food stamp benefits and more than $1,000 in Medicaid benefits to which they were not entitled.

The Albrechts consistently told the Department of Public Health and Human Services that Lisa Albrecht worked at a Kalispell sandwich shop, then at a department store, but that Jeffrey Albrecht was unemployed, making the family's monthly income low enough for welfare benefit eligibility.

However, a fraud investigation revealed that Jeffrey Albrecht had been working for a hauling company from about April 2005 to December 2007.

Jeffrey Albrecht could face up to one year in prison and a $250,000 fine while Lisa Albrecht faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Sentencing will be May 1.