Com. v. Brown, A.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided January 27, 2016·No. 494 EDA 2015·Unpublished

Opinion

J-S69011-15

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Appellee

v.

ALEXIS A. BROWN

Appellant No. 494 EDA 2015

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence January 16, 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-46-CR-0004497-2013

BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E., and OLSON, J.

MEMORANDUM BY GANTMAN, P.J.: FILED JANUARY 27, 2016

Appellant, Alexis A. Brown, appeals from the judgment of sentence

entered in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, following his

bench trial convictions for two counts of theft by deception and one count

each of tampering with public records or information, forgery, and false

statements (to obtain food stamps).1 We affirm Appellant’s convictions but

vacate and remand for resentencing.

In its opinion, the trial court fully sets forth the relevant facts and

procedural history of this case. Therefore, we have no reason to restate

them. We add only that the court sentenced Appellant on January 16, 2015,

____________________________________________

1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3922(a)(1); 4911(a)(2); 4101(a)(2); 62 P.S. § 481, respectively. J-S69011-15

to an aggregate term of six (6) to twenty-three (23) months’ imprisonment,

plus five (5) years’ probation. Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal on

February 17, 2015. On February 20, 2015, the court ordered Appellant to

file a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to

Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b), which Appellant timely filed on March 12, 2015.

Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT THE EVIDENCE WAS SUFFICIENT TO SHOW AS A MATTER OF LAW THAT APPELLANT WAS GUILTY OF THEFT BY DECEPTION IN RELATION TO THE LOST EARNINGS WHEN THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE COMMONWEALTH FAILED TO SHOW BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT THAT APPELLANT MISREPRESENTED HIS EMPLOYMENT STATUS?

DID THE COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT THE EVIDENCE WAS SUFFICIENT TO SHOW AS A MATTER OF LAW THAT APPELLANT WAS GUILTY OF THEFT BY DECEPTION IN RELATION TO THE MEDICAL EXPENSES WHEN ANY ALLEGED DECEPTION HAD NO BEARING UPON ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY THE VICTIMS COMPENSATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT?

DID THE COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT THE EVIDENCE WAS SUFFICIENT TO SHOW AS A MATTER OF LAW THAT APPELLANT WAS GUILTY OF FRAUD OR FALSE STATEMENTS IN RECEIVING FOOD STAMPS/PUBLIC ASSISTANCE WHERE THE COURT CONCLUDED THAT THE ALLEGED EMPLOYMENT WAS DETERMINED TO BE NONEXISTENT. THIS CREATED CONFLICTING FACT DETERMINATIONS THAT ARE IRRECONCILABLE[.]

DID THE COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT THE EVIDENCE WAS SUFFICIENT TO SHOW AS A MATTER OF LAW THAT APPELLANT WAS GUILTY OF TAMPERING WITH PUBLIC RECORDS WHERE THE EVIDENCE WAS BASED PURELY UPON OPINIONS OF LAY WITNESSES THAT THE RECORD WAS CHANGED?

-2- J-S69011-15

DID THE COURT ERR IN FINDING APPELLANT GUILTY OF BOTH TAMPERING WITH PUBLIC RECORDS AND FORGERY BECAUSE THE FINDING OF GUILT IN SPECIAL PROVISIONS PRECLUDE PROSECUTION OF THE CORRELATING GENERAL PROVISION OF THE PENAL CODE?

DID THE COURT ERR IN GRADING THE CONVICTION FOR THEFT BY DECEPTION, RELATING TO THE MEDICAL EXPENSES, AS A THIRD DEGREE FELONY WHEN THE ALLEGED COST OF SERVICES DID NOT EXCEED $2,000.

DID THE COURT ERR IN GRADING THE FRAUD OR FALSE STATEMENTS IN RECEIVING FOOD STAMPS/PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AS A THIRD DEGREE FELONY WHEN THE ALLEGED VALUE OF THE ASSISTANCE APPELLANT RECEIVED DID NOT EXCEED $3,000.

(Appellant’s Brief at 6-7).

After a thorough review of the record, the briefs of the parties, the

applicable law, and the well-reasoned opinion of the Honorable William R.

Carpenter, we conclude Appellant’s first, second, third, and fourth issues

merit no relief. The trial court’s opinion comprehensively discusses and

properly disposes of those questions. (See Trial Court Opinion, filed May 8,

2015, at 10-18) (finding: (1) evidence at trial established Appellant lied

about his employment status on Victims Compensation Assistance Program

(“VCAP”) application, where Appellant submitted suspicious paystubs and

suspicious employer verification information; paystubs raised “red flags”

because they did not contain employer identification number, employee

identification number, or Appellant’s social security number; purported letter

from employer and employer verification form also raised red flags, where

employer letter was not on letterhead, signature on employer letter merely

-3- J-S69011-15

stated: “Management,” and two phone numbers listed as belonging to

employer were wrong numbers; additionally, paystubs, employer letter, and

employer verification form were submitted from Appellant’s fax machine, not

from purported employer; VCAP claims specialist, VCAP compliance

reviewer, and Special Agent for Attorney General’s Office were unable to

verify existence of Appellant’s purported employer, “Muscle Therapy”;

Appellant listed business address as 1616 Walnut Street, but parties

stipulated no company called Muscle Therapy leased office space in that

building during relevant timeframe; Appellant also submitted different

employer information on VCAP application than he submitted on Philadelphia

Hand Center patient intake form; court concluded Appellant lied about

employment status on VCAP form and submitted fraudulent paperwork to

support his claim for lost wages; Commonwealth produced sufficient

evidence to sustain Appellant’s theft by deception conviction (related to lost

earnings); (2) when Appellant submitted VCAP application, Appellant

acknowledged that consequence of providing fraudulent information on

application would be ineligibility to receive lost wages; additionally, once

applicant commits fraud, he is ineligible to receive any compensation from

VCAP; because Appellant provided fraudulent information to obtain alleged

lost earnings, Appellant was also ineligible to receive compensation for

medical expenses; Commonwealth produced sufficient evidence to sustain

Appellant’s theft by deception conviction (related to medical expenses); (3)

-4- J-S69011-15

contrary to Appellant’s assertions, court did not make express determination

that Appellant’s employment was non-existent; rather, court decided

Appellant lied about his employment on VCAP application to overstate his

claim for lost wages; Appellant also failed to disclose to Public Welfare

agency any VCAP payments he received,2 as he was required to do, which

would have adversely affected his eligibility for public assistance and

reduced or eliminated amount of public assistance he received;

Commonwealth produced sufficient evidence to sustain Appellant’s

conviction for false statements (to obtain food stamps);3 (4) Appellant

submitted falsified documents in his VCAP application; specifically, Appellant

presented fraudulent paystubs, fraudulent employer letter, and fraudulent

employer verification form; evidence demonstrated Appellant knowingly

produced false or altered documentation to receive compensation for lost

wages; Commonwealth produced sufficient evidence to sustain Appellant’s

tampering with public records or information conviction). Accordingly, we

affirm on the basis of the trial court’s opinion as to issues one through four.

2 Appellant also failed to disclose his purported earnings to the Public Welfare agency.

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