By Tribune-Review

Published: Thursday, January 31, 2013, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Delmont man who illegally wrote checks to tap into his father's Social Security disability benefits was ordered to serve six months detention and pay $62,360 in restitution in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh Tuesday.

Senior District Judge Gustave Diamond also ordered Gavin Fowkes, 40, to serve five years of probation for his conviction for theft of government property, according to U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton.

According to court documents, Fowkes stole $62,360 of his father's Social Security disability payments that were deposited directly into his father's checking account maintained at a bank in Indiana.

According to court documents, Fowkes began writing checks on his father's account in 2005 until the thefts were uncovered last September.

Prior to imposing sentence, Diamond said he considered Fowke's lack of a criminal history, his early acceptance of responsibility and his ability to pay restitution through his full-time job as a mechanic.

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