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Perham, MN – A Perham woman has been sentenced to pay almost $8,000 in restitution after failing to update her income while receiving medical assistance.
Otter Tail County prosecutors say 31-year-old Bailey Ann Freel did not report any income when she applied for assistance on June 12th, 2023. Over a year later, on June 26th, 2024, county investigators received a fraud referral saying that Freel’s income had changed, but she had not reported it. The investigators sent out employment verification requests, and learned that over the course of the year, Freel had been employed by three different companies and had current employment.
Investigators say that due to her failure to update her income, Freel was overpaid $7,943.70 between September 2023 and May 2024. When approached by county investigators, Freel claimed that she did not report her income since none of her employers provided insurance.
Freel pleaded guilty to Wrongfully Obtaining Assistance back in March, and on Monday, May 12th, she was sentenced to pay $7,928 in restitution. She has also been placed on probation for 5 years.
