Lorene Deanda, 66, of Ceres, was sentenced Dec. 11 to three years and one month in federal prison after her 2023 conviction of mail fraud in relation to stealing more than $550,000 from recipients of Social Security and other government benefit funds between 2003 and 2015, said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.

Deanda was also sentenced to three years of supervised release once she leaves prison.

According to court documents, Deanda was employed by an undisclosed charitable organization in the area and managed the organization’s representative payee program. This program assisted recipients of Social Security and other federal and state benefits like the Veterans Administration, Railroad Retirement funds and California State Teachers’ Retirement System funds, who could not physically manage their own financial affairs. On behalf of the charitable organization, Deanda would set up bank accounts for the beneficiaries and receive benefit funds into those accounts. Her duties included paying beneficiaries’ bills and necessities from those accounts. However, from 2003 to May 2015, Deanda diverted benefit funds from the beneficiaries’ accounts and spent the money on her own personal expenses, including for her personal credit card bills and residential mortgage. In some cases money was transferred to accounts under her sister’s name or her mother’s name.

She also would empty accounts of persons who died and use the money instead of sending the money back to the agency involved.

Prosecutors said that Deanda stole over $550,000 in the 12 years.

The case came from an investigation by the Social Security Administration - Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry Z. Carbajal III and Brittany M. Gunter prosecuted the case.