A Lewiston man will spend three years in federal prison after prosecutors say he stole another person’s identity and used it to fraudulently collect more than $36,000 in taxpayer-funded SNAP and MaineCare benefits.
Chief U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Joseph Dobie, 38, on Tuesday to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Dobie was also ordered to repay $36,373.16, the amount federal prosecutors say he fraudulently obtained through government benefit programs.
He pleaded guilty on Feb. 13 to aggravated identity theft, making false statements relating to health care matters and unlawful use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
According to federal court records, Dobie stole another person’s identity and used that information to obtain driver’s licenses and a Social Security card.
But the identity theft did not stop with obtaining identification documents.
Federal prosecutors said Dobie used the victim’s identity to apply for and receive SNAP benefits in both Maine and New York.
At the same time, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dobie was collecting SNAP benefits in New York under his real identity.
Dobie also used the stolen identity to obtain health care coverage through MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program, according to prosecutors.
By the time the scheme was uncovered, authorities said Dobie had fraudulently collected $36,373.16 through SNAP and MaineCare.
The case was investigated jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
The sentencing comes as federal authorities are increasing their focus on fraud involving taxpayer-funded benefit programs.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of its National Fraud Enforcement Division, a new effort tasked with investigating and prosecuting fraud against federal programs and the American taxpayer.
The initiative is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to identify fraud, waste and abuse across the federal government.
That effort includes President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, which has placed particular attention on federal benefit programs and the taxpayer dollars flowing through them.
The Dobie case also comes amid heightened scrutiny of Maine’s Medicaid system.
Federal officials, including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and Vance, have recently raised concerns about fraud and questionable billing involving MaineCare providers.
During a visit to Brewer on Monday, Vance again made fraud a central issue, accusing Maine of becoming a significant target for federal investigators and questioning whether state leaders have done enough to protect taxpayer dollars.
Dobie’s prosecution is separate from those broader investigations. But the case provides another example of the type of benefit fraud federal authorities say they are increasingly targeting: taxpayer-funded assistance obtained through false information and, in this instance, an entirely stolen identity.
For Dobie, the scheme ultimately resulted in a federal prison sentence, and an order to pay every dollar back.
