A Fayette County woman was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution after being sentenced for Social Security fraud. 

According to the Department of Justice, 68-year-old Teresa Sabolek will have to pay $116,758 and serve one year of probation after she was convicted of Social Security fraud and theft of government property. 

The court was presented with information that in May 2009, Sabolek applied for Social Security benefits but alleged that her husband did not live with her at her Belle Vernon property. 

Years later, Sabolek applied for spousal benefits on her husband's Social Security benefits. That's when a clerk pulled her husband's file and saw that his file contained a sworn statement from her husband declaring that he shared a home with his wife in Belle Vernon. 

An investigation from the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General found that the husband's documents, including driver's license, mailing address, and registered vehicles, were all the same as Sabolek's, the home where she claimed she lived alone for more than 13 years. Agents visited the home in December 2024 and learned that the husband did live there, had a room, and paid the utility bills and mortgage. 

Sabolek's claim that she lived alone made her eligible for Social Security benefits, but had she indicated that her husband lived with her, she would not have been eligible for the benefits. 

In total, Sabolek received $116,758 in benefits between May 2009 and August 2022.