# Man Accused Of Faking Retardation -- For 20 Years



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

_Contested Traffic Ticket May Be Crux Of Case_

*TACOMA, Wash. -- *For nearly 20 years -- ever since Pete Costello was 8 -- his mother has collected disability benefits on his behalf.

In meetings with Social Security officials and psychologists, he appeared mentally retarded and unable to communicate. His mother insisted he couldn't read or write, shower, take care of himself or drive a car.

But now prosecutors said it was all a huge fraud, and they have video of Costello contesting a traffic ticket to prove it.

"He's like any other person trying to get out of a traffic ticket," Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Tuesday.

Pete and Rosie Marie Costello were indicted in September on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud, and the case was unsealed Tuesday. The Vancouver pair were scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on Tuesday.

Barbosa said he planned to file with the court two videos of Pete Costello taken this year: In one, he allegedly feigns retardation during an interview with Social Security workers; the other is of him contesting the traffic ticket in a courtroom earlier this year.

The indictment accuses Costello of faking -- or at least exaggerating -- retardation since August 1997, because that is what prosecutors are confident they can prove, Barbosa said. But the pair first received benefits 10 years before that.

The benefits cited in the indictment totaled $111,000.

Barbosa said the government does not know whether Costello is retarded to some degree, but he clearly has been "exaggerating whatever he may have, if any."

"This person isn't being honest with the government about his condition," Barbosa said. "It makes it impossible to sort out."

It was not immediately known if the Costellos had obtained attorneys.

_Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
_


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## 1968SS (Nov 27, 2006)

Hmmm, I've suspected some of the brass at my job of doing that.


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## radio2526 (Nov 26, 2006)

I've suspected some masscops members of doing that


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

video:
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/pla...006/12/06/price.wa.fake.retardation.kiro.kiro


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## brk120 (Mar 10, 2005)

If he is being charged with faking ratardation for 20 years, I may be in trouble for trying to act normal for 28 years. :BNANA:


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## SOT (Jul 30, 2004)

Andy? Is that you?


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## justanotherparatrooper (Aug 27, 2006)

wheres Mongo?


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## rg1283 (Sep 14, 2005)

How could he get a driver's license, maybe they would have checked that. What a dumbass, you don't screw with the fed.gov I can maybe understand his mom forcing this upon him when he was a child to act retarded, but that doesn't make him a retard if he acts retarded. Boy that sounded John Kerry Like.


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## lpwpd722 (Jun 13, 2006)

What a retard.


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## brk120 (Mar 10, 2005)

lpwpd722 said:


> What a retard.


 :L:


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