Court rejects plea in welfare fraud case
GREENCASTLE -- A welfare fraud case will move forward after Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley rejected a proposed plea agreement.
Christopher J. Mullins, 26, is charged with two Class C felony counts of welfare fraud and one count of Class D felony theft. Mullins allegedly filed for and received unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled.
Mullins has been without bond at the Putnam County Jail since his arrest. He was already on probation for a conviction on similar charges when he was arrested in June.
Mullins plead guilty in March to Class D felony theft and welfare fraud charges. Mullins admitted that in May 2008 he applied for and received unemployment benefits by using the name and identity of a former roommate.
Headley sentenced Mullins to two concurrent three-year sentences, one for each count. Mullins was ordered to serve 243 days in the Putnam County Jail, and the remainder of the sentence was suspended.
While waiting to be sentenced in that case, Mullins spent 42 days in jail and 159 days on home detention, all of which he received credit for.
Mullins' probation was revoked in that cause when the new charges were filed in June.
Headley set a trial date of Feb. 9 for Mullins.
The terms of the proposed plea were that Mullins would plead guilty to one count of Class C felony welfare fraud, as well as admit he violated the terms of his probation.
The sentence proposed in the plea agreement was four years with two years executed and two years suspended.
In addition, Mulllins would have had six months of his previous suspended sentence reinstated.
All of his executed time would have been spent as a direct commitment to Putnam County Community Corrections.
The agreement also contained a restitution order.
If convicted on all charges, Mullins could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
A warrant for Mullins' arrest was issued on June 7, and he turned surrendered himself to authorities a week later.
He has entered preliminary pleas of not guilty to all charges.
Mullins' arrest came about as the result of an investigation conducted by Indiana State Police First Sgt. Scott Stockton and Indiana Department of Workforce Development investigator Dennis Patton.
According to court documents, Mullins owes Indiana taxpayers more than $7,000 -- which includes the funds he received and all applicable penalties.