A few weeks ago, we discussed the case of a Farmington, New Hampshire woman who was fighting terminal cancer while waiting on her disability checks to start arriving. Heather Russell, 47, was hoping to live long enough to see her cousin get married this month, and then a niece’s wedding in June.

She made it to the cousin’s ceremony but died early April 27–and still had never seen even one disability check for the Stage IV small-cell lung cancer diagnosed in May 2009.

First check was expected this month

According to the online version of Foster’s Daily Democrat, Russell “was supposed to see her first disability check [in late May], at the end of the mandatory five-month waiting period disability insurance recipients have to endure. An agency spokesperson has said the delay is to ensure aid is going to people who are truly disabled. There is a bill in Congress to abolish the waiting period.”

Unfortunately, Russell’s case is more the rule than an exception. The SSI/SSDI process is notorious nationwide for the backlog of cases, even in regions that have shown improvement.  According to an April 19 report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, North Texans are waiting about two months less for hearings than they were a year ago, an improvement related to “a plan launched last year [that] has helped speed turnaround. The agency hired 147 administrative law judges, who hear appeal cases, and 1,000 support staff in fiscal 2009, according to the agency.” More hiring is planned for this year, according to SSA.

National rate improving, but still tedious

Nationwide the 2008 backlog of 750,000 cases required a national average wait-time of 514 days, according to the S-T, down this year to 697,437 cases requiring an average 442 days, although some areas still experience delays of well over 600 days.

The article also succinctly summarizes the cruelty of the trap so often faced by those in the queue: “While they wait, applicants get no medical benefits or financial assistance. If they find temporary work to make ends meet until they get a ruling, they risk having their claim denied because they are considered employed.”

White powder and threats of violence

In three recent, apparently unrelated cases, judges have handed down two prison sentences to men convicted of terroristic behavior toward the SSA. Two of the men, one of whom was to be arraigned on May 7,  mailed letters containing talcum, or baby powder, to various agency offices, intending to mimic the post-9/11 anthrax scare.

According to a May 3 report in the Las Vegas Sun, “A convicted felon who made threatening telephone calls to several Social Security offices after his benefits were terminated was sentenced Friday to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release, Nevada’s U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said today.”

Described as a 54-year-old “whose address is unknown to authorities,” Leon Muhammad “was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt. Muhammad, who was arrested on Dec. 17 in Columbia, S.C., pleaded guilty on March 31 to making threatening communications in interstate commerce. He was sentenced at the top of the available sentencing range because he had two prior violent felony convictions in New York and New Jersey and was determined to be a career offender.”

Man had, then lost, benefits

Muhammad was said to have begun receiving benefits in 2005, but in November 2009 SSA dropped him. “Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 3, Muhammad made several threatening telephone calls from Las Vegas to Social Security call service centers in Baltimore, Salinas, Calif., and Auburn, Wash., in an attempt to secure the reinstatement of his benefits. At one point, Muhammad told a representative that if he did not receive payment in his bank account by a set time later that day, he would go to the Social Security office in Las Vegas, where he was vacationing, and create another ‘Valentine Blood Bath.’ ”

A few weeks earlier, a district judge in Alabama, according to an April 21 piece at al.com, “sentenced a Haleyville man to seven months in prison for mailing a letter containing white powder and photos of the 9/11 attacks to the Social Security Administration in Cullman.

“U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre also sentenced Patrick Bryant Wilson, 41, to three years of supervised release, including seven months of home confinement.”

The deal was part of plea agreement reached in December. According to the defense attorney, Wilson was hurt on the job where he was a a regional manager and subsequently lost the job. He applied for benefits and was denied.

He used his home address

According to the plea agreement, says the article, Wilson “dropped off a letter Aug. 25 at the Cullman post office that was addressed to the Social Security Administration and listed Wilson’s home as the return address, according to his plea agreement. A postal worker noticed it was leaking a white powder, which was later determined to be baby powder. The letter also included two photos of the Twin Towers burning.”

In California, Timothy Cloud not only sent threatening letters to SSA offices but also addressed one to the president at the White House. Moreover, he had a “Plan B,” as explained by this piece in The Sacramento Bee:

“So far, Timothy Cloud’s seems to be working out for him. . . .

” ‘I mailed the envelopes … to those addresses because I hoped people would think it was anthrax,’ he wrote [in a statement to federal agents]. ‘I mailed the letters because I was mad. I knew I would be caught.

” ‘I do not regret sending the envelopes because that was my retirement plan. Either I was going to get Social Security or I was going to jail.’

Cloud is described as a 62-year-old homeless man with a record as a sex offender. Apparently well known on the streets, he seemed to be going about his hand-to-mouth routine when agents finally caught up with him.

‘Three hots and a cot’

His attorney, whom Cloud was initially reluctant to accept, was quoted as saying: “All he wanted was three hots and a cot,” said his attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Matthew Bockmon. “He was frustrated with Social Security over denial of benefits to which he feels entitled.

“This is a pathetic case of a homeless person making a desperate cry for help. He’s been on the streets a long time; long enough that he was sick of it.”