Brandon Lawson's Wife Guilty of Food Stamp Fraud

 

She said he disappeared, but well before her common-law husband Brandon Lawson went missing, in 2012, she applied for food stamps indicating on the official forms for the federal assistance program that she was a single mother. The missing common-law husband of Ladessa Lofton made headlines statewide last year, when the 26-year-old reportedly disappeared on a formidable stretch of highway 277 just outside of Bronte.

Lawson's wife, Ladessa Lofton, was indicted in January of this year by a Tom Green County grand jury on one count of tampering with a government record with the intent to defraud the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. According to the indictment filed in the 340th District Court in San Angelo, Lofton applied for Medicaid benefits and Food Stamps roughly one year before her high school sweetheart’s disappearance. When  she submitted the forms, she omitted Brandon Lawson, the father of their three children, as a member of the household and left his income off the sheet.

As a result, the indictment states, Lofton received a larger amount of SNAP and Medicaid benefits than she was actually entitled.

A plea hearing on the state jail felony charge was held Wednesday morning (September 17) in Judge Jay Weatherby’s court, where Lofton entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $16,715.46 restitution.

Six weeks after Brandon Lawson’s disappearance on Aug. 9, 2013, theories, descriptions and images of the man and the events that occurred that night began to surface on television and news sites, resulting in several months of an exhaustive search led by Lofton and parties of volunteers.

Facebook prayers and hopeful messages run in the hundreds on the Help Find Brandon Lawson site even a year later, and regular updates on aerial searches, cadaver dogs and tips appear on the page maintained by Lofton and a few others.

The demonstrated effort and a social media following of over 11,000 has kept the curious case fresh for many tuned in for developments. However it might be fair to say the media attention has done little to help Lofton herself.

As of December 2013, Lofton reported that she was back at work and had returned to Fort Worth with her and Lawson’s children to be near family. She has since moved to Crowley.

No new clues or information on Lawson has surfaced in the year since his disappearance. Meanwhile, the group of Facebook administrators continued to circulate flyers, photos and memories of Lawson on the page. 

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In my previous interviews with Ms. Lofton, she explained that the two have been a couple for 10 years now and have lived together the vast majority of that time. She referred to him as her husband, as did several people who knew them in previous articles. Since we don't know how he viewed the relationship it would be impossible to confirm that he, too, considers them to be a married couple, but in order to achieve common law status one has to do a few simple things. 

Now, two unmarried persons can either

1. Complete, sign, and record a declaration of their marriage with the County Clerk

- or -

2. Satisfy the following three-part test:
a. Agree to be married (this cannot be inferred from b. and c.);
b. Live together in Texas as husband and wife; and
c. Represent to others that they are married.

I don't really care how they referred to each other. Whenever you omit someone from the form that is residing at the residence it is fraud. I am sure there are many cases such as this across the country that cost tax payers billions. If you can't afford children, don't have them. That doesn't mean abortion that cost tax payers and kills innocent victims. That means to be responsible for preventing situations you can't afford.
CCLL, Thu, 09/18/2014 - 11:32
This has got to be a head scratching for those wondering if anything told by the "common law" wife about Brandon Lawson being missing is true or not. It is not good to lie to tax payer's , law enforcement, reporters , the list goes on and on. So why should we believe Ms Lofton about what she has said about Brandon Lawson being missing? For all any of us knows she could have had something to do with him being missing. Reminds me of the story, the boy who cried wolf. Maybe Ms Lofton needs to read that story.
You can't tell one story and then tell another, them lies will always catch up with you. You cannot always get something for nothing. Can't afford kids don't have them, the goverment ain't your babies daddy!
i made a mistake and read the comments people are making on the story on Facebook. Truly a complete bunch of idiots, they think the story is about welfare fraud. They don't think it's about the wife's behavior as questionable. What a sad lack of education in our society.
The sad part of all of this is Ms. Lofton has worried about what her children will read on Facebook. I wonder what she thinks now. Yes, her creditability is shot. I guess that's why the story has changed so much about Mr. Lawson missing. Just tell the truth, it will set you FREE.
dc77, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 06:24
Ladessa was undoubtedly in the wrong for lying on the application but I don't see how that makes her quilty of Brandon's disappearance . The application process makes it so difficult to qualify for assistance that someone who truly needs it may feel its their only option, especially when you have children to feed and have no idea where their next meal will come from. I speak from experience. 5 years ago my husband lost his job. we were over 2 months without an income, had used up all our savings and borrowed money from nearly everyone we knew. Our power was only days away from being shut off and we were hiding our last vehicle from repo so we had a means to job search as the other had done been taken. We have 3 children and supported them 100% from birth with no help from the government or anyone else. As a last ditch effort to feed our children something besides the hot dogs and beans they had mostly been eating the last week, that we were quickly running out of I applied for food stamps. I was turned down because my vehicle was less than 5 years old and told I would other wise qualify. I did think hard about lying on my app because of this knowing I couldn't give up my vehicle because it would leave us in an even worse situation. I'm not making excuses for Ladessas actions or even pretending to know what her reasons were for doing it, I'm just saying until you have been in her shoes or in that situation you have no right to think you know what she's going thru. A parent will go to the ends of the earth to provide basic necessities for their children even if that means lying on an app. Its no worse than people who just keep having kids with no means to support them just to keep getting foodstamps. As for the comment about"don't have kids if you can't support them" how does that even work? Is there a place to return them when the funds run out or you fall on hard times like I did. To link this incident that happened a year before Brandon went missing to her character or to his disappearance is just wrong. Have a heart and use a little common sense. I just don't understand how people sleep at night knowingly putting a woman thru one thing after another while she's dealing with a missing husband and father. Its just cruel and heartless.
CCLL, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 10:37
Can't justify a wrong like that and then use the excuse , oh but she is a good person .. Blah Blah Blah. She lied to get benefits, she has told different stories regarding Brandon being missing. What next? So if Brandon had such great oilfield job/s , with benefits, how come she is poor-mouthing about having to get welfare benefits? So how come none of her stories ever match up? She always says they are soulmates, but there is proof to the contrary. Explain that? You can't. And how exactly do you know someone from online so well that you can say they would never do something? You can't. Time to face the facts, you can not keep crying wolf and keep expecting the public and law enforcement to keep buying the lies. Time to open your eyes and check your brain cells Ms Copeland. NSA isn't the only one watching people.
CCLL, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 11:01
And one more thing. Yes, it does determine character if you are willing to lie. Yes it does matter. It is wrong to lie to get benefits. So everyone does it and so its okay? No...try again. Wrong is wrong. And if you show a pattern of lying , telling several different stories, after a while most people are not going to trust or believe you. If I get in a bad mood and my husband ticks me off and I kill him, does it make it okay because is purposely ticked me off and drove me to it? Should I not be punished? You need to think about your priorities and just what kind of God loving christian you are as well as others who seem to think its okay to commit sins and think there is no ramifications at all. You can not justify wrongs to suit your own needs. That is called being a hypocrite and usually guilty of other such lies. Ask yourself, is it okay to commit a crime as long as you ask for Gods forgiveness every time you do it? No wonder this country is going to hell in a hand basket !!!
dc77, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 12:26
Does it automatically make her guilty because she didn't want everyone to know she was fighting with her husband the night he went missing, or that she suspected hevwas using drugs, or that a year earlier she lied to feed her children? I can't say I blame her Look what happened when she did. Everyone automatically started accusing her of being involved in his disappearance and dragging her.and his name along with every other member of his family through the mud pointing out every mistake they have made in an attempt to discredit them instead of acting like the christains they claimed to be and supporting her in her efforts to locate Brandon. I have seen everyone from Ladessa to his grandparents be accused of doing something to him without a shred of evidence to back any of it up, just hear say and rumors. I have also never seen anything from Ladessas past that would indicate she's even capable of committing the things she's been accused of yet people chose to overlook that because it doesn't fit their theory of who she is. Its ashame that someone dealing with such a tragic situation would have to.deal with such things from people who don't even know her or her family, As I stated, she was wrong for lying on the application. I wasn't trying to make excuses for that or justify it but who hasnt told a lie at one point or another, does that make us all potential murderers? I don't think so. From my point of view as someone who has been following this from the very begining and an oilfield family myself I never seen anything that looked like an out and out lie or like she was trying to deceive anyone. She appeared to me to be a wife( or girlfriend) who didn't realize the seriousness of the situation and didn't want every intimate detail of her relationship to be known and only released information as the gravity of the situation sank in. Also being in the oilfield doesnt automatically mean you are financially stable as anyone living this life can tell you, as a matter of fact its probably one of the most unpredictable jobs because you never know from week to week if you will get hours the next week or how many you will get and he was between jobs when he went missing anyways. I can admit Ladessa has made mistakes in this but I see nothing that screams she was involved and apparently niether does law enforcement or she would be locked up now. This woman's life has been completely turned upside down and she's having to learn how to live with the new normal she has been thrown into and deal with people critisizing her every move and mistake because she's not doing it the way they would. I know of my husband were to go missing there are things about him I wouldn't want made public unless it was inpairative to finding him.
dc77, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 12:43
Also what does it say about us as a society that this family has been begging for help and media attention to get Brandon's story out there with very little response then a story like this comes along and gets more attention in the first day than all her pleas for help. It says that people are more interested in the latest gossip and getting the scoop on someone than actually lending a hand and helping someone who needs it. If Ladessa was so involved and had so much to hide do you really think she would be out there begging anyone who would listen for help? I'm no profiler but that just doesn't seem like the actions of someone with a guilty conscience or something to hide to me
I will say this about all of this, Ms. Lofton made a statement yesterday that there is 2 sides to the story. Well what possibly could be another side to this story, except either she lied then or she is lying now. That is as black and white as you can put it. Then she said, it's because she had a baby. Ok, here's some math, she filed for it in Oct. 2012, she roughly got welfare for about 14mths., and that bonus money they give to buy diapers and such roughly 12mths., the food stamps would have been roughly give or take $800.00 and bonus money $300.00 that is 14,800.00. That counts for Medicaid and possibly some housing allowance in there. So there is no room for "having a baby" in that. If she needed that money to raise those babies I have no problem with her receiving it. But don't LIE. Get a job and help yourself along. But, that is not what she is telling to be the truth. She is telling that her and Mr. Lawson was all in love and living the dream. She has stated they didn't have friends because he worked 80 hours a week. Ms. Copeland he was not between jobs, he was still an employee of Renegade oilfield services, he was still on the board to go out with a crew. If the family wants this story in the media so bad they need to fess up and act like it. Follow some other Missing Person cases and see how it's done. It ain't sitting on Facebook whining, it's getting out there pounding the pavement, personally handing out flyers, talking to everybody face to face. It is about telling the truth. Another thing don't be so quick about what law enforcement thinks, they just might fool ya. But you can bet one thing sitting around bashing law enforcement and the land owners, the one people you need help from. So if I was her all those contacts from media sources that she don't return calls or email from it has hurt this case. Yes if this was my loved one I would do a lot of things differently. Just saying!
jdgt, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 14:39
Unfortunately, I don't know the entire inner workings of the search for Brandon. However, being an average member of the Facebook society - where much of the whining exists, I'm less than impressed with the "diligent" effort to find him. There's a shoddy 911 recording. You'd think with the high tech equipment of today, someone would be able to decipher just exactly what "Brandon" is saying. There have been numerous enquiries by followers of his page as to whether or not Ladessa or any member of Brandon's immediate family has attempted to contact credible search and rescue teams (Like TX EquuSearch.) However, these questions are never answered. The only thing ever updated was that such and such "neverbeforeheardof" search team has come in and will spend time searching for Brandon. People have offered to be part of a volunteer search effort, yet are never contacted in return. All that's ever asked from people is donations? They need money to feed search volunteers... etc. I'm not saying Ladessa is guilty. I AM saying that there are entirely toooooo many loose ends, and none of them make a lick of sense. It's only reasonable for the average person to doubt the credibility of anyone in regards to the disappearance of Brandon... to include Brandon, himself.
CCLL, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 16:08
Gotta love how people will judge and justify things when questioned. Love how God is used as a weapon to call people names, Justify crimes, you name it. Its all good Ms Copeland, because we all know that eyes are everywhere and you reap what you sow. My points above are about excusing people for lying and committing crimes, then they turn around and expect people to believe everything they say unquestionably. Don't think so. I work for my money and pay taxes. I have every right to question how my tax dollars are used, to question anyone who asks for help from the public. In this day and age, it is wise to question and not just be a part of herd mentality. That is what has messed this country up. IF YOU LIE TO GET BENEFITS, do not expect or whine for sympathy. How old are these people? I am assuming they have at least a GED and know right from wrong. And do not tell me some sob story that it is all justified because it was for the kids. Because there are many groups who offer help as well as outright give it no questions asked for single mothers. Do not tell the public it is none of their business if you ask them for help ( money ) to find your loved one. There is nothing wrong with questioning . How do any of us know what happened? Ms Copeland, were you there? No you were not. So do not tell people how what they should or should not do and then threaten Gods wrath on them. You , are not obviously a very good christian. Sometimes the public is just looking for any logic to play in to these disappearances. When a person goes missing , EVERYTHING and EVERYONE is looked into. Family members who are innocent and desperately looking for answers themselves get questioned for days and just wish law enforcement would start looking in other directions because they feel that the real perp is getting farther and farther away and clues are fading as days are passing. But ALL angles should be looked at, and that would include the behavior of the circle of people surrounding the missing person, and the possible emotional and physical state of the missing person. And do you honestly think that law enforcement tells the loved ones and the public everything? In Brandon's case, no one has been ruled out as a person of interest. Do you know why that is MS Copeland? Think hard now. I know you should have some education. So, two questions remain Ms Copeland, Where is Brandon Lawson, and what would Jesus have you do?
CCLL, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 16:13
Ms Copeland, How would you know about Ms Lofton's past? If I were you, I would do a background check. It is amazing and eye opening what you find. Oh but do not take my word for it. Please, take the word of the ones who talk out of both sides of their mouth. Do me a favor though, when all things do come to light , please take a selfie so we can all see the egg on your face. But don't worry, God will still love you. Because God loves all , the smart and the ignorant. Amen.
Yesus, Fri, 09/19/2014 - 16:57
I'm upset because my tax dollars went to feed this woman, and what have you, but she has solicited the public for donation after donation via social media. Does no one else see a problem with that? Those of you who are her defenders, are you alright with her lying and defrauding you? Of course people make mistakes. No one is innocent. No one. But once you lie about one big thing to the point that you get a felony conviction against you, it calls into question everything that you've ever done whether it was truthful or not. I don't know if she had anything to do with Brandon disappearing or not. But she turned our tax dollars into her tax credit, and I'm not alright with that. I'll be more than happy to help out anyone in need, but not when you're going to lie and scam. Benefits are there for people who need them, not freeloaders. If she needed food, there are churches, Salvation Army, organizations. Better yet, all of you great friends that she seems to have that jump to her defense, where were you when she was defrauding the government because she was supposed to need help? If you need help, you ask, you don't steal. You get up off the couch, and get a job, and provide for your family. Miss Lofton acts like that she's the only person ever in this position. She's by far not. Life is tough. Suck it up. Don't steal. Pay us taxpayers back what you owe us for feeding you. Do something with your life and become a decent person.
dc77, Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:53
I don't recall threatening Gods wrath on anyone or using God as a weapon and I never claimed to be christain. I simply stated that those who go on and on about how Christain they are and how She will have to answer to God for her involvement in this are the first to pass judgement on her. As for knowing what's in her past you are right, I don't know everything but I'm willing to bet with the way everyone seems too be looking for dirt on her if there was something it would have done been blasted. The whole point I was trying to make was that I can understand how she may have felt the need to lie to get foodstamps and the fact that she did doesn't automatically make her capable of hurting her own husband. Reguardless of her past or how rocky her marriage may or may not have been she is going thru a difficult situation and none of us know what its like unless we have been thru it ourselves and shouldnt have to deal with people dragging up every mistake she's made and making her out to be this horrible person. She should be able to turn to us for support and help. If you don't like that she's asking for donations than don't give her your money but there are some that want to help and that's what the post are for and you're right, people should be able to question her and challenge her answers when they don't add up but I have seen people right out attack her not becausebof her answer but because of her grammer or a mispelked word or inproper use of a word. I have seen her calked horrible things because as they say she's uneducated. That tisha me is totally uncalled for and accomplishes nothing in the search for Brandon. We are all adults here yet a large majority of the people who have a probkem with Ladessa act more like 5th graders.
CCLL, Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:48
Who are you calling Christians? Ms Copeland, I never once said I was Christian. But I will tell you this, simply Google Brandon Lawson Missing and it sure as heck brings up a lot of things. And one of the thing it brought up was Ms Lofton and her fan club using Gods name to curse people with. Now how Christian is that? Oh that is right, its okay to act like a heathen and criminal as long as you do it in Gods name and you smite anyone who questions you. Okay, good I got it now. Everyone needs to blindly accept whatever is fed them , open their wallets, look the other way when someone breaks the law, because after all...Everyone does it and if I Sin and ask for forgiveness every time I am all good...right? Is this how you teach your children Ms Copelend? Because if so, let me notify the Prison system so they can make a reservation for them. And people wonder why this country is the way it is. And if I don't like what she is doing don't donate? So if people think she has lied, used the system, wasted valuable resources in search for Brandon, when she could have told the truth and those resources could have been used to actually locate him right a way. But no, lies had to be told and the searches misled, no story staying the same. Etc... You can believe what you want, but know this, he could have been found pretty quickly if people had not purposely lied to Law Enforcement. I bet Ms Copeland, if you put your thinking cap on, you could find him. How about you give it a try. And don't try to act like you know the truth and what is going on. Your no where near in the loop. Just remember, blood is thicker than water. Now run along and put your thinking cap on and come back when you get it figured out. ;)
dc77, Sat, 09/20/2014 - 19:15
lmao, you really crack me up, my post had nothing to do with you, I didn't say you were christian, I wasn't referring to you when I posted my original post, I didn't know you even exsisted. My post was about the people on her page that are attacking her. That page was created for those who want to support her. What she does on her page is her choice and yes I may not agree with everything she posts but that's ok. If you chose not believe her that's fine, its your right but I chose to support her and if it turns out that I am wrong than so be it. I will sleep better knowing I was supportive when I shouldn't have been than to think I was against her when she had done nothing wrong. I guess though for you attacking her isn't enough you need to attack anyone who stands behind her aswell. It must be a miserable existance for you to live with so much negativity. Its just my nature to see the best in people and because of that I live an extreamly happy life and nothing you say to me will ever change that so on that note this conversation is over. I have better things to do that debate this with you and all your negativity.
CCLL, Sat, 09/20/2014 - 19:30
Sheeple...that the name they have for people like you Ms Copeland. And no one was attacking her. If speaking the truth is attacking, they would sure hate to see what real attacking is. You really make me laugh. In fact, everyone in the whole office is laughing. Thank you for that. Public servants need a good laugh now and then , seeing how the public is obviously in need of help because they can't be responsible adults. What ever gets you through life and helps you sleep at night Ms Copeland. It is obvious you choose to ignore what is in front of you so you can tell yourself what a good person you are. Must be hard to be so insecure. There are self help groups that may be able to help you. Good luck in your good deed life Ma'am, you will need it. And just to save time later, I told you so. And remember, its not negativity when its truth darlin' . Here is another hint, this information is available, all you have to do is make a call. It is public information after all. Now go put your thinking cap on before you lose anymore cells. I don't think you should lose anymore. Its been a real treat talking to you.
Ms. Copeland as I read your comment I can't help but wonder, why the page in question is named Help Find Brandon Lawson. If the page is set up for Ms. Lofton and HER personal gain. I thought by the name of the page it was to HELP Find Mr. Lawson, but clearly by your personal comments and others and even the page itself, it clearly is not about finding Mr. Lawson. The page is all about Ms. Lofton and her personal gain and selfish acts. The page name is very deceiving and actually should be reported as so. Actually the name should read "Support Ladessa, but don't ask Questions" or even I saw someone say somewhere "Ladessa's Losers". Either way that would not be a deceiving title for the group as the one now. A real page of Help Find Brandon Lawson would not be sitting around on Facebook. Waiting on everyone else to print off the flyers on go hang them up etc. and asking for funds for personal use but saying for searches. A real missing persons would be out hanging them flyers every free moment, having fund raisers, calling law enforcement regularly getting updated, returning Every message and email, on the phone with every media outlet around talking to them or in their office. Not bashing law enforcement or land owners or the community of Bronte.
Why do missing person cases bring all teh whackjobs and trolls and screenshot warriors out of their caves? It really is one of the oddities of the Internet age.

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