A conservative media personality has been sentenced to a month in federal prison and five months of house arrest after pleading guilty to Social Security fraud in September.
Prosecutors said Karyn Turk, the winner of the 2016 Mrs. Florida pageant, pocketed the money from Social Security checks belonging to her mother, Ilse Schafer, instead of sending it to Schafer’s nursing home. Schafer died in June.
At the sentencing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said, “The message I’m sending is: You can’t steal from the government and not go to jail,” the Palm Beach Post reported.
“Choices in life have consequences, I’m sorry to tell you,” Reinhart said. “If you steal from the government, you’re not going to have a reputation as an honest person.” Continue reading.