South Carolina Woman Admits Scamming Workers' Comp for 15 Years

September 5, 2008

A South Carolina woman admitted scamming West Virginia's workers' compensation system for more than 15 years.

Prosecutors said 60-year-old Harriett Miller of Georgetown, S.C., stole checks totaling nearly $116,000 that the state sent to Hazel Allen after Allen died in 1987.

Allen was awarded lifetime benefits after her coal miner husband was killed in a mine accident in West Virginia in 1941. Allen later moved to South Carolina and lived in the same building as Miller.

Miller pleaded guilty Sept. 2 in Kanawha County Circuit Court to fraudulent schemes.

Forty-two-year-old Kevin R. Sexton of Georgetown pleaded guilty to the same charge. Prosecutors said Sexton and Miller were married but are now separated.

Miller and Sexton each face one to 10 years in prison when sentenced Oct. 16.
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Information from: Charleston Daily Mail,
http://www.dailymail.com