Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania – A man from Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of stealing his deceased father’s Social Security and pension benefit payments. Timothy Gritman, 56, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and Social Security fraud after it was discovered that he had stolen over $200,000 of his late father’s benefits.
According to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero, Gritman chose financial gain over ensuring a dignified death for his father. Investigators revealed that Gritman had been using his father’s retirement benefits for years, even before his father’s passing, and had gone to great lengths to continue receiving the money after his father’s death.
The case unfolded when Ralph Gritman, the accused’s father, was last seen alive in 2016 at the age of 79 and in poor health. The following year, both men moved to Wyoming, where the elder Gritman’s health benefits were used for an emergency hospital visit. After that, the benefits were never utilized again, and detectives believe that Ralph Gritman passed away around October of 2017.
Authorities allege that Timothy Gritman concealed his father’s death from their family and even disposed of his father’s body, although the details surrounding this remain unclear. Because Gritman never reported his father’s death, he was able to fraudulently claim his father’s Social Security and pension benefits from 2017 to 2022. During that time, he reportedly deceived government officials by posing as his father on multiple occasions and using makeup to make himself appear older.
In addition to his prison sentence, Gritman has been ordered to repay the Social Security Administration and the New York State and Local Retirement System a total of $194,085. Despite ongoing searches, investigators have yet to locate Ralph Gritman’s body. Gritman’s lack of cooperation in revealing the whereabouts of his father’s remains has only added to the severity of his actions in the eyes of law enforcement and officials.