‘Bogus Beggar’ pleads guilty to fraud charges

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) – A Kentucky man who claims to have made as much as $100,000 annually by panhandling while pretending to be disabled has pleaded guilty to similar duping charges.

Local news outlets report that 33-year-old Gary Hank Thompson pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to defrauding the Supplemental Security Administration by failing to report income and falsely misrepresenting his mental condition in order to receive benefits.

Thompson, who has been dubbed the “bogus beggar,” admitted that between 2009 and 2013, he made the misrepresentations in order to receive Supplemental Security Income benefits amounting to $24,884. He also admitted that he obtained $81,831 in Medicaid benefits.

Thompson had been accused of falsely represented his mental condition by slowing his speech and stuttering when he sought benefits.

Thompson will be sentenced in June.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.