SAN DIEGO — A clinical psychologist in San Diego is going to federal prison for a scheme that allowed patients to falsely collect disability benefits and to avoid taking English tests for U.S. citizenship.
The U.S. attorney's office says Roberto J. Velasquez was sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in prison and ordered to repay more than $1.5 million to the Social Security Administration.
Prosecutors say Velasquez charged dozens of patients $200 each to falsely certify that they were disabled. He made up patient histories and fabricated test results.
Velasquez acknowledged falsifying two types of disability forms — one for some patients to obtain Social Security benefits and another that allowed some 50 immigrants to avoid taking the English language and civics portions of citizenship exams.
