A Butler couple is accused of illegally obtaining more than $6,000 in child care assistance benefits, dating back to 2014 and 2015.

John N. Ingram, 33, and Tonya L. Schmidt, 36, are each charged with a felony count of welfare fraud.

The Pennsylvania Inspector General's Office, which is responsible for investigating welfare fraud and conducting collection activities for programs of the Department of Public Welfare, filed the case Monday.

Investigators said Ingram and Schmidt, while receiving benefits between Nov. 15, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2015, failed to report their living arrangements with his young child.

Ingram did not disclose to authorities that he had moved from his home on Pillow Street to a home on East Pearl Street that he bought in 2015, according to court documents.

He also failed to disclose that he was living with Schmidt, his child's stepmother and care provider, at both homes.

Authorities said Schmidt also did not disclose that she was residing at Ingram's home with the child.

Ingram withheld the information, documents said, because he knew it would have “negatively affected his eligibility for child care services.”

For Schmidt, investigators said, her decision to withhold the information would have adversely affected her eligibility as a child care provider.

The defendants, documents said, during the 13-month period received $6,226 in subsidized child care assistance benefits for which they were not entitled.

The alleged violation of the Public Welfare Code statute is graded as a felony of the third degree and carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and a $15,000 fine.

Preliminary hearings for Ingram and Schmidt are set for July 10 in Butler.

In another unrelated welfare fraud case filed Monday, the state Inspector General's Office charged an Armstrong County woman with fraudulently obtaining $2,029.27 in public assistance last year.

The suspect, Brandi N. Denardo, 34, of Ford City, in applying for and collecting benefits between March 1 and July 31, 2016, failed to disclose she also was employed and receiving wages, court documents said.

She is charged with illegally receiving $1,641.27 in medical assistance benefits and $388 in federal food stamps.

Denardo is charged with a first-degree count of welfare fraud. Her preliminary hearing is set for July 10 in Butler.