PROVIDENCE – A former federal air marshal has admitted in federal court that he concealed his self-employment and his role in a Middletown-based martial arts business from the U.S. Department of Labor in order to collect nearly $250,000 in Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs disability benefits, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Joseph Patrick Watterson of Newport pleaded guilty to false statements to obtain federal workers’ compensation benefits. Watterson admitted that he concealed that he was instructing and engaging in jiu jitsu at Two Serods Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, rather than what he told the DOL, which was cleaning and maintaining the school and bookkeeping.
Wilson said he concealed the true nature of his work because he didn’t want his workers’ compensation benefits to be reduced or terminated.
He was said to have collected $241,118 in benefits he was not entitled to collect between May 31, 2016 and March 3, 2019.
