CINCINNATI – A Cincinnati woman who applied for and was denied bankruptcy seven times was sentenced in federal court to 17 months in prison for misusing another person’s Social Security number. After pleading guilty to using another person’s SSN to apply an eighth time for bankruptcy, the defendant lied to the probation office about being a veteran and provided a false address before failing to appear at her originally scheduled sentencing hearing.
Nicole Ball, 49, was arrested in October 2021 by United States Marshals after failing to appear in court.
According to court documents, from 2013 to 2016, Ball filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Ohio using her true SSN. Each case was dismissed, and in February 2017, the bankruptcy court ordered the defendant not to file again for at least three years.
In March 2019, Ball illegally used another person’s SSN to file again for bankruptcy.
She pleaded guilty in March 2021 to misusing the SSN.
After her guilty plea, Ball provided false information to the federal probation office, including claiming that she had served in the United States military when she had not, and providing the office with an address on a street that does not exist.
Ball also used the names Nicole Whitaker, Nicole Woodell, Nicole Spivey and Nicole Whitaker-Spivey.
Vipal J. Patel, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, commended the investigation by the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General and Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. Special Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Landry is representing the United States in this case.
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