PARIS — Friends and family of a Rumford woman accused of welfare fraud testified in her defense Tuesday in Oxford County Superior Court.
Amy Knowlton, 30, told the court Tuesday that although she had access to her then-boyfriend’s money while receiving food stamps and TANF benefits, the money was not hers. The state says that between October 2006 and March 2009, Knowlton had access to her boyfriend’s money while collecting more than $10,000 in food stamps, TANF and MaineCare benefits.
Scott Knowlton, to whom Amy Knowlton is now married, said he set up a checking account in his girlfriend’s name when he got a job fishing off the coast of Alaska. He said she could access the account for living expenses and to provide for their child and Amy’s first son from her previous marriage.
State prosecutors say she should have claimed that money when declaring her assets to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Assistant Attorney General Michael Colleran named several $4,000 deposits from Scott Knowlton’s employer that Amy Knowlton accepted within days of informing the DHHS, in six-month updates, that she had no income.
Prosecutors also read an email from Amy Knowlton to her ex-husband, written before her marriage to Scott Knowlton, where she referred to Scott Knowlton’s money as her own.
“It was Scott’s money,” Knowlton told the court Tuesday. There was an understanding, she said, that if she used the money frivolously, for purposes other than housing, clothing and other staples, that he’d cut off her access to the money.
She said she accepted benefits because the distance from Scott Knowlton was straining their relationship, and she felt it could end without warning. He worked on fishing boats for more than half the year, and when he did return to New England his time was split between his legal residence with Amy Knowlton’s parents, his hometown of Waldoboro and Cape Cod, where he had friends.
Amy Knowlton reiterated that she had informed caseworkers that Scott was paying her expenses, and said she turned down TANF money for the child she and Scott had before they got married, telling the state that Scott was taking care of his needs. She was still accepting TANF benefits for the son she had with her previous husband.
The defendant told the court she managed her boyfriend’s money, paying his bills and his rent to her parents in Troy, N.H., where Scott established a legal residence to avoid paying Maine income taxes on his Alaska wages. He said he also had tax issues with his ex-wife. He said his divorce took years and wasn’t finalized until 2008.
Prosecutors also attacked the assertion that Scott was really living in Troy, N.H. Although he established a mailing address there, he had no bedroom there. While cross-examining him, Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell listed Maine driver’s licenses, car registrations and hunting licenses, all with Amy Knowlton’s address as his residence.
Scott Knowlton said he’d been unable to get a driver’s license in New Hampshire. Amy Knowlton said she didn’t know about the hunting licenses.
Amy’s mother and brother testified that Scott Knowlton was living in Troy, N.H., and paying $400 per month rent when he was home from fishing. He admitted that he had hunting and fishing equipment and tools at Amy’s home in Rumford, but said he had belongings everywhere at the time, including at the New Hampshire home and at his parents’ home in Waldoboro.
In late November 2008, Scott and Amy Knowlton married and moved in together. Amy Knowlton continued receiving benefits for four more months, until she ignored a six-month review from DHHS, triggering a closing of her benefits.
Knowlton said she’s still having trouble getting her kids off MaineCare.
Testimony ended Tuesday afternoon. Attorneys from both sides will give closing statements Wednesday morning, and the case will then go to the jury.
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