HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – A Hartford man who spent more than two decades fraudulently collecting government benefits, and then staged his own drowning to avoid sentencing, was ordered Monday to serve nearly five years in federal prison.
Ricardo Santiago, 60, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $371,686 in restitution.
Between 2002 and 2024, Santiago worked for more than 20 employers and earned more than $580,000, all while collecting Social Security disability, food stamp and unemployment benefits he was not entitled to. He hid his income from government agencies by using a stolen Social Security number and fake identification. In total, he collected more than $370,000 in fraudulent benefits.
Santiago was arrested in May 2024 and pleaded guilty to wire fraud in February 2025. But before he could be sentenced, he staged a drowning — his own and his 11-year-old daughter’s — in the Connecticut River and attempted to flee. An Amber Alert was issued for his daughter, Amelia.
Hartford police located both of them in Hartford on Sept. 20, 2025. Amelia was found safe and unharmed. Santiago has been held since that date.
The case was investigated by the inspector general offices of the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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