The Associated Press State & Local Wire

May 25, 2004, Tuesday, BC cycle

Former psychiatrist sentenced in Social Security scam

SECTION: State and Regional

LENGTH: 277 words

DATELINE: ANDERSON, Ind.

A former psychiatrist was sentenced to three years in prison for charging patients hundreds of dollars to get Social Security disability benefits.
A jury had convicted Dr. Trivandrum S. Ramaswamy, 56, of committing corrupt business influence, theft and intimidation.
Ramaswamy helped patients get disability benefits but then told them they had to pay him so he could pay off an insider he said he knew at the Social Security office. Prosecutors said at the trial that this friend was fictitious.
Superior Court Judge Dennis Carroll Monday ordered Ramaswamy to spend three years in prison, one year on in-home detention and three more years on probation.
Several of the doctor’s colleagues, patients and family members were called to speak on Ramaswamy’s behalf, and many people also wrote to the court asking for leniency. His family said Ramaswamy’s conviction has been hard on them both financially and socially.
“When everything was taken away from me, I started to realize what’s important in life,” Ramaswamy said during sentencing.
Carroll said the doctor’s remorse seemed false. He encouraged Ramaswamy to ease his relatives’ burden by admitting responsibility for his actions instead of letting his family believe he’s the victim of injustice.
One of the doctor’s former patients said he thinks Ramaswamy should have been sentenced to more jail time. Tony Grant, of New Castle, testified at the trial that Ramaswamy helped him get disability payments but then demanded $400.
“The stress that I had to go through because of him,” Grant said. “I just think he should have had to go through half of what I had to go through.”