Colorado-based Social Security employee created fake children for federal benefits

A 36-year-old Castle Pines resident was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison for receiving federal benefits through 10 children whose identities he fraudulently created.

Justin Skiff claimed the children died and he was a relative. 

Skiff brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars during the two years he operated the scheme while working as a claims specialist for the Social Security Administration, according to federal prosecutors.

From August 2019 to September 2021, Skiff obtained exactly $324,201.44 in benefits from the SSA, the United States Attorney's Office of Colorado detailed in a press release. 

Judge Daniel D. Domenico ordered that exact amount of money seized from Skiff's bank accounts, per case documents. A 1.65 carat diamond engagement ring was also included in the judge's forfeiture order.

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"Maintaining the public's trust in government institutions is vital to our democracy," Andy Tsui, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office, stated in the press release. "When government employees abuse their position of trust to enrich themselves, IRS-CI will partner with other agencies to ensure these criminals are held accountable for their actions."  

Federal prosecutors brought three charges against Skiff - wire fraud, social security fraud and laundering of monetary instruments - in December 2022. Skiff pleaded guilty to all three counts in March. 

Judge Domenico sentenced Skiff to six months in federal prison on each of the counts. The three terms will be served at the same time. Skiff has 28 days to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his time. The judge recommended he do so at the F.C.I. Englewood facility. 

Judge Domenico also granted a motion from prosecutors to decrease the classification of the charges by one measure, according to case records. skiff faced a possible jail term of 20 years on the wire fraud count alone.

"The defendant has clearly demonstrated acceptance of responsibility for his offense," the prosecution's motion stated. It added that Skiff cooperated with investigators from the IRS and SSA throughout the case.

Skiff will be on supervised probation for three years once he is released from prison.