Sheriff’s Office Investigators announce latest welfare fraud arrests in Lewis County

LOWVILLE- The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has announced another string of welfare fraud arrests. On Thursday, investigators said that Morgan Burd, 25, of Syracuse, NY; Richard Rowsam, 51, of Lowville, NY; Stephanie Hancock, 29, of Copenhagen, NY and Heather Hancock, 27, of Castorland, NY were all arrested on welfare fraud charges. Specifically, both Heather and Stephanie Hancock and Rowsam were all charged with felony counts of welfare fraud and grand larceny in the third-degrees, along with felony filing a false instrument in the first-degrees. Meanwhile, Burd was charged with felony counts of welfare fraud and grand larceny in the fourth-degrees. Burd was processed and released on an appearance ticket, returnable to Lowville Town Court at a later date. As for Rowsam and both Hancocks, they were processed, arraigned and released on their own recognizance. LCSO image.