I saw this article in the Star Tribune and thought it illustrates how traumatic grief effects people. In this case this man blames his actions on the stress and psychological instability following the sudden death of his wife who plunge into the Mississippi river in 2007 when the 35W bridge collapsed. I think it really illustrates the importance of working on your grief in a therapeutic relationship rather than trying to 'tough it out'. Here is the article as it appeared in the May 9, 2012 edition of the Star Tribune.
The former owner of a corner market in St. Paul argued before his sentencing on a massive food stamp fraud that his illegal behavior "was the product of stress and psychological instability" attributed to his ex-wife dying in the collapse of the I-35W bridge in 2007.
Khaffak S. Ansari, 46, of Arden Hills, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul to three years and five months in prison for making illegal redemptions for cash and ineligible merchandise at the Stryker Avenue Market.
The government contended that Ansari trafficked more than $3 million in food stamp benefits from January 2006 -- well before the bridge collapse -- through October 2010. Ansari argued that the figure was closer to $1.5 million. Sentencing calls for him to pay $2.4 million in restitution.
According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case, the averaged food stamp redemption for a similarly sized store in Minnesota between 2004 and 2009 was slightly more
than $320,000. Over that same period, Stryker's redemptions were nearly 10 times that. As an example of an inflated transaction, Ansari swiped a benefits card for $401.12 and provided that person with $200 in cash.
In presentencing court filings, the government argued for a four-year prison term for Ansari. The defendant sought as little as three years, pointing out that his ex-wife, Julia Blackhawk, was killed in the bridge collapse three months after their divorce.
"The nature and circumstance of the offense . . . was a product of stress and psychological instability after the death of Mr. Ansari's [former wife] in the Highway 35W bridge collapse," his attorney argued in a presentencing document. Blackhawk, 32, and her car plunged into the Mississippi River as she was heading home to Savage from Aveda Institute in southeast Minneapolis, where she had been studying.
Paul Walsh, Star Tribune reporter
This collapsed happened less than 2 months after our loss on June 10th, 2007. To experience a tragedy so close to our own boomeranged us back into grief. This is why experts explain that after you experience a loss you should post pone all major decisions for at least a year in order to give your mind and body a chance to heal form the loss.
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