Postal carrier getting $260K in disability was lifting, carrying tables, feds say
A North Carolina woman collecting thousands in disability benefits was secretly working another job while claiming she had not worked in the years after she was injured as a postal carrier, federal prosecutors said.
Sandra “Sandy” Cannon Throneburg, 74, of Morganton, received more than $539,000 in workers’ compensation benefits, including over $261,000 disability benefits and over $278,000 medical benefits, that she was not owed, according to prosecutors.
Now Throneburg has pleaded guilty to knowingly and willfully making a false statement in connection with the fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said in a Sept. 19 news release.
Throneburg’s defense attorney, Sean P. Devereux, did not return McClatchy News’ request for comment Sept. 23.
“For years, Throneburg lied about her ability to return to work to keep receiving payments from the federal workers’ compensation program,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson, of the Western District of North Carolina, said in a statement.
Throneburg worked for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier in Valdese from September 1989 to September 2015, when she hurt her right ankle and foot while on the job, according to court documents.
Then she started receiving benefits under the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, prosecutors said.
A few years later, in April 2020, the USPS Office of Inspector General received an anonymous tip about Throneburg working at an accounting firm, leading to an investigation, according to court documents.
To keep receiving benefits, Throneburg filled out and signed a federal form in which she said she had not worked for another employer, prosecutors said.
But that was a lie, as she had worked for a Morganton accounting firm between 2016 and 2020, according to prosecutors. Morganton is about a 75-mile drive northwest from Charlotte.
While under surveillance, Throneburg was seen helping customers at the firm as well as lifting and carrying tables at work, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Throneburg was paid by the accounting firm while also receiving federal assistance for her purported injury and related medical bills stemming from 2015, according to prosecutors.
“Most postal employees who collect workers’ compensation benefits have legitimate claims,” USPS OIG executive special agent in charge Kathleen Woodson said in a statement. “A small percentage, however, abuse the system and cost the Postal Service millions of dollars in fraudulent claims and enforcement costs.”
Throneburg faces up to five years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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