3/7/18 – While Susan J. Gissy managed to avoid a lengthy prison sentence for fraudulently collecting workers’ compensation, the Citrus County woman and former local mail carrier still has to repay every cent she stole from the U.S. government.
During Gissy’s Monday sentencing hearing at the U.S. District Courthouse in Ocala, Judge Roy B. Dalton ordered Gissy to forfeit the $112,612.64 in federal disability benefits she unlawfully obtained because she lied about her medical condition, court records show.
Dalton also departed from the recommended punishment for Gissy of between 15 and 21 months in federal prison.
Instead, the judge sentenced Gissy to serve three years probation, 100 hours of community service and 30 days at the Brevard County work camp, according to the Middle District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U S Attorney’s Press Release
Citrus County Woman Convicted Of Federal Workers’ Compensation Fraud
12/15/17 – Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that a federal jury in Orlando today found Susan J. Gissy (54, Crystal River) guilty of one count of theft of government funds and two counts of concealing a material fact in connection with the receipt of workers compensation benefits. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the theft charge, and up to five years on each of the concealment offenses. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 5, 2017.
A superseding indictment was returned against Gissy on June 14, 2017.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Gissy was employed as a rural mail carrier with the United States Postal Service. In 2011, she filed a federal workers’ compensation disability claim in connection with a lower back injury. In 2014, based in part on her misrepresentations to her treating physician regarding her back injury, Gissy received a permanent disability impairment rating. In 2016, federal agents observed Gissy engaging in strenuous physical activity, including scuba diving, boating, and riding 12-meter-tall waterslides. Further investigation revealed that Gissy had systematically misrepresented the extent of her recovery. As a consequence, she had received over $112,000 in workers’ compensation disability benefits to which she was not entitled. Gissy had also knowingly concealed and covered up her recovery by twice filing false documentation in support of her claim.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William S. Hamilton and Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.