Ex-Postal worker sentenced in compensation fraud case

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A former U.S. Postal Service worker has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $900,000 in restitution for fraudulently obtaining workers’ compensation benefits.

U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme in Great Falls announced Friday that 55-year-old Deborah Durand of Fruitland, Idaho, was convicted of four fraud counts. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris presided over trial.

Prosecutors said Durand failed to return to work after recovering from an on-the-job back injury. Instead, she claimed total disability and received more than $660,000 in workers’ compensation claims.

They said Duran went on a three-day ocean kayaking trip and was seen jogging and riding horses while claiming she was “totally sedentary” and could not work.