Waterloo’s Penny Linn Teel, 60, has been handed a heavy sentence for her 22-year-long deception of the Social Security Administration (SSA). On September 23, 2025, she was sentenced to over one year in federal prison for theft of government property.
The deceitful scheme began in 1992 following the passing of Teel’s husband. She swindled insurance benefits by failing to report her remarriage in 2002 and continued to collect on her deceased spouse’s account. The deception escalated when, in 2022 and 2023, Teel applied for Social Security benefits on her new husband’s behalf, falsely claiming he was unmarried.
Upon being confronted by law enforcement, Teel’s lies unraveled further. She was later sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids. Ordered to pay $297,281 in restitution to the SSA, Teel must also serve a three-year term of supervised release post-prison term.
Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist prosecuted the case, while the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. The full case file is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, with the case number 24-CR-2042.
Teel was released on bond and will surrender to the Bureau of Prisons at a later date. Follow updates on this saga through @USAO_NDIA.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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