FORT SMITH -- A sitting justice of the peace and her husband have admitted Social Security fraud, according to the state attorney general's office on Monday.
Sebastian County Quorum Court member Rebekah Schwartz and husband, Stephen Schwartz, pleaded guilty in the Western District of Arkansas, U.S. District Court, to felony theft of government funds and aiding and abetting the theft of government funds. The charges relate to fraudulently accepting $160,000 in Social Security disability benefits while also working and then operating a business, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Rebekah Schwartz, of 5606 Park Ave. in Fort Smith, represents District 12 on the Quorum Court, Sebastian County's elected governing body.
The couple faces up to 10 years each in prison.
In November 2020, the Little Rock Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit of the Social Security Administration received a tip a Title II-Disability Insurance Benefit program participant, Stephen Schwartz, was working and simultaneously receiving disability benefits, according to the release.
From June 2016 to September 2016, Stephen Schwartz was employed with Liberty Roofing of Fort Smith but had his paychecks issued under his wife's name in order to conceal he was working despite claiming a disability. Additionally, the investigation revealed he was employed from December 2016 to July 2017 at a countertop business in Fort Smith until he and his wife started their own business, Schwartz Quartz and Stone, according to the release.
On Aug. 19, 2019, Stephen Schwartz was sworn in as a justice of the peace for District 12 after being appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. He remained in the position until December 2020 when his term expired, which includes the time that he was defrauding the Social Security Administration. After his term ended, Rebekah Schwartz was elected to the District 12 seat, a position she currently holds.
A sentencing date for the couple hasn't been set by the court.
According to the State Board for Elections Commissioners' 2020 Handbook for Candidates, candidates for justice of the peace "must never have been convicted of embezzlement of public money, bribery, forgery, or other infamous crime" under Article 5, §9 of the Arkansas Constitution.
Sebastian County Judge David Hudson said Monday he was "saddened" to hear about the Schwartz' guilty pleas. He said the Quorum Court will have to declare Rebekah Schwartz' justice of the peace position vacant through a resolution that will be presented at its meeting March 15. The governor will then have to appoint someone to serve out the remainder of her two-year term.
Hudson also said he anticipates the county may receive a letter of resignation from Rebekah Schwartz.
Rebekah Schwartz is a Republican, according to results from the Nov. 3, 2020, general election. Tommy Camp, another Republican, is the sole candidate running for the District 12 justice of the peace seat in the May 24 preferential primary election, according to the Sebastian County clerk's office.