'Blind' Man Caught Driving Committed Disability Fraud
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'Blind' man who said he lost his sight in a workplace accident and almost collected $1.3 million in benefits is caught driving and reading
John Caltabiano, 49, of Catskill, New York, said in his disability application he couldn't drive, cook or shave without help.
'I sit in the dark and listen to TV', he wrote before showing up to his disability hearing with his girlfriend and having her guide him into the building.
But just a few days before, investigators had caught Caltabiano on tape driving his car, reading - and even hitting the brakes to avoid hitting a woman and a child, ABC News reported.
He was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison last month after a jury found him guilty of fraudulently obtaining federal and state disability benefits. His girlfriend, Colleen J McCarten, 43, was sentenced to three years of probation.
A jury found them both guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, five counts of mail fraud, and theft of government property after a two-week trial in October last year.
