Man, 90, who escaped prison in 1970 indicted for fraud

PHILADELPHIA – Federal prosecutors say a 90-year-old man who escaped from a Maryland prison in 1970 has been indicted for Social Security fraud in Philadelphia.

William Lewis is accused of collecting more than $450,000 in retirement benefits that he wasn’t entitled to from 1991 to March 2017.

According to a grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday, Lewis moved to Philadelphia sometime after his escape and applied for a Social Security number in 1971 using an alias.

Prosecutors say in 1991 he applied for Social Security benefits under his real name and in 1997 he began getting checks under his fake name.

It was not immediately clear what crime Lewis was serving time for in Maryland.

Court documents do not list an attorney for him.