Camillo

This case poses two questions about the welfare fraud statute. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 10980.) The first is whether obtaining more than $400 worth of welfare benefits by false representations for a number of consecutive months constitutes a single felony or only a series of misdemeanors. Welfare and Institutions Code section 10980, subdivision (c) provides that if the total amount of such aid is $400 or less, the crime is a misdemeanor and if more, an alternate felony. We hold that the crime is a felony when those benefits are illegally obtained pursuant to one general scheme. The second is whether the classification of such a crime as a felony violates a recipient’s constitutional right to due process and equal protection. We hold that it does not and consequently reject the constitutional challenge as well.

Defendant Mattia Shanti Gamillo falsely obtained welfare benefits in excess of $2,900 over a period of nine months but never received more than $400 in any one month. She was charged with a single felonious count of violation of Welfare and Institutions Code section 10980 and a separate felony count of perjury under Penal Code section 118. After a court trial, she…