Cincinnati woman sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to Social Security fraud

A Cincinnati woman who pleaded guilty to stealing the identity of a deceased child and using it to avoid criminal prosecution has been sentenced.Christina Vaskovsky, 56, pleaded guilty to five counts of Social Security number fraud in March after being charged and arrested last November.On Tuesday, Vaskovsky was sentenced to two years in prison and will be required to pay nearly $191,000 in restitution to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.According to court documents, Vaskovsky was indicted in Hamilton County in July 2008 for allegedly stealing $14,500 from her employer. Vaskovsky failed to appear at her trial scheduled in December 2008, leading to a warrant for her arrest.In 2010, investigators alleged that Vaskovsky obtained a new Ohio driver's license using the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a child who was born the same year as Vaskovsky but who died in 1977.Vaskovsky then allegedly used that child's identity in a variety of contexts, including to receive food stamp benefits, obtain Social Security disability benefits, file for bankruptcy to discharge nearly $128,000 in debt and receive over $11,000 in unemployment benefits.The office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio announced her sentencing on Tuesday.