68-1017. Assistance; violations; penalties.

(1) Any person, including vendors and providers of medical assistance and social services, who, by means of a willfully false statement or representation, or by impersonation or other device, obtains or attempts to obtain, or aids or abets any person to obtain or to attempt to obtain (a) an assistance certificate of award to which he or she is not entitled, (b) any commodity, any foodstuff, any food instrument, any Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit or electronic benefit card, or any payment to which such individual is not entitled or a larger payment than that to which he or she is entitled, (c) any payment made on behalf of a recipient of medical assistance or social services, or (d) any other benefit administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, or who violates any statutory provision relating to assistance to the aged, blind, or disabled, aid to dependent children, social services, or medical assistance, commits an offense.

(2) Any person who commits an offense under subsection (1) of this section shall upon conviction be punished as follows: (a) If the aggregate value of all funds or other benefits obtained or attempted to be obtained is less than five hundred dollars, the person so convicted shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor; (b) if the aggregate value of all funds or other benefits obtained or attempted to be obtained is five hundred dollars or more but less than one thousand five hundred dollars, the person so convicted shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor; or (c) if the aggregate value of all funds and other benefits obtained or attempted to be obtained is one thousand five hundred dollars or more, the person so convicted shall be guilty of a Class IV felony.

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Annotations

It is immaterial whether wrongfully obtained benefits are used for oneself or for another. State v. Burke, 23 Neb. App. 750, 876 N.W.2d 922 (2016).