Accused of lying so he could get more than $14,000 in Medicaid welfare benefits, a Mountain View man now faces two felonies in Uinta County District Court.
The pair of felony charges of welfare fraud against Neal Sidwell, 46, rose to the felony-level court Thursday. Each is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Sidwell submitted an application to the Wyoming Medicaid office for Medicaid benefits Oct. 10, 2017, and declared that he lived alone, according to an evidentiary affidavit by Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) fraud investigator Robbyn White.
He was denied Medicaid coverage because he didn’t fit any of the eligibility criteria, the document says.
He called in for Medicaid coverage again three days later, this time reportedly saying his daughter lived with him.
Based on that, he received benefits for the next year under the Medicaid Family MAGI program for a household size of two, the affidavit says.
He called in again a year later, allegedly saying he needed Medicaid coverage again and lived with his daughter.
But on Nov. 18, 2019, after two years of coverage, the Medicaid office told DFS’s eligibility integrity unit that Wyoming Child Support Services had learned the child lived in Utah with her mother instead, the affidavit says.
So, the Wyoming Medicaid office ended Sidwell’s benefits.
The tally of claims paid under the family MAGI program totaled $14,287.25, says the document.
DFS kept investigating and reportedly confirmed the girl’s Utah residency via school and custody records, as well as a signed affidavit by her mother.
Eligibility investigators interviewed Sidwell at his home Feb. 4, 2022, and he allegedly confirmed that his daughter had not been living with him.
“Because he falsified applications to include a minor child in his care to qualify for the family MAGI Medicaid program, he received $14,287.25 of Medicaid benefits he was never eligible to receive,” says the document.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
