According to an article by Insurance Journal, 56-year-old Victoria Newell-Brown of Delaware, who utilized the alias of “Victoria Stevens,” has officially been sentenced to 5 to 10 years in state prison and is required to pay $170,655 in restitution in connection to a workers’ compensation scam spanning two states, against a Family Dollar in Pennsylvania and a restaurant in Delaware.
Here are the facts and a timeline of the case:
“Newell-Brown claimed that in 2019 she was hurt from a fall while working at the Family Dollar store. She claimed she was totally disabled from the fall, so Family Dollar paid medical expenses, as well as workers’ compensation and wage-loss benefits for $1,500 every two weeks. Newell-Brown received that payment for more than two years.”
“In August 2019, Newell-Brown took a job at a Delaware restaurant, using a different Social Security number and the “Victoria Stephens” alias, so her claims in Pennsylvania would not be discovered. Two months later, she reported she was hurt — claiming the same injuries sustained in Pennsylvania — from a fall at the restaurant. The restaurant’s insurer paid disability wage-loss benefits, and Newell-Brown received payments from both states until 2021.”
“In order to maintain her scheme, prosecutors said Newell-Brown repeatedly lied to her employer, health care providers, judges, and others about her health, work history, medical history, and disability claim history.”
“According to the attorney general’s investigation, Newell-Brown received more than $97,000 in workers’ compensation and wage-loss benefits, with her employer also paying over $5,600 of her medical expenses. Her employer also paid an additional $70,000 in legal costs challenging her claims.”
What’s worse is that Newell-Brown already had a lengthy rap sheet, with multiple felony convictions, dating back to the 1980s. Newell-Brown pleaded guilty to 10 felonies in October 2023, and was officially sentenced on February 26, 2024 by a Delaware County Judge.