Deaf Man Says His Alleged Fraud Was a Protest

In a so-called “silent statement” from jail, a deaf man accused of perpetrating the largest single fraud in Social Security history claims that he carried out his three-year scheme as a protest on behalf of the handicapped.

“First let’s make it clear that Robert L. Chesney is not a crook, nor a criminal,” Chesney wrote in a letter received by The Times on Monday. “He is a Crusader, a Demonstrator, a Protester, an Activist--dedicated . . . to Civil Rights and Advancement of the Handicapped.”

The 59-year-old former printer, who authorities said has no criminal record, claims the reason that he never spent any of the estimated $400,000 he received under dozens of aliases is that he planned to give it back once he was prepared to make his protest public. He did not specify at what point that might be.

Assistant U. S. Atty. Lawrence Middleton, who is prosecuting Chesney in a trial scheduled to start Oct. 1, said he was familiar with Chesney’s claims that he was acting as an advocate for the deaf. But, he added, “It’s not a very viable defense as I see it.”

In his 10-page handwritten letter, Chesney claimed his scheme was a way to get improved jobs, housing and education for the deaf. “The voices of the deaf are mute--silent suffering,” he wrote. “Our most ambitious rallies, demonstrations and protests are insufficient ‘jokes’ to the press, the government and the politicians . . . . “

Claiming to be “God’s bagman,” he wrote that he made certain no one was harmed. “Every cent that the government can claim as ‘a loss’ shall be duly refunded or reimbursed with interest from conservative trust funds especially established for that purpose,” he said.

He complained that the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is being held, has failed to provide him with a television decoder for the deaf or a telephone translation device. An official from the detention center said it was not possible to respond to the allegation Monday.

Chesney, a college-educated former printer from Long Beach, was described by former friends and acquaintances as a highly intelligent loner who was a miser. According to federal authorities, he was receiving retirement and disability benefits in at least 29 different names. Most were names of real people who had died.

Marcella Meyer, chief executive officer of the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness, called his letter a “cop-out.”

While his complaints about facilities for deaf inmates reflect a real problem, she said his stature as a self-appointed advocate for the deaf appeared strained.

“I have never heard of him being an advocate, a crusader, or any of those things,” she said.

She had, however, heard of Chesney. On July 1, he bought a television decoding device from a Council on Deafness bookstore and paid for it with a $191.53 check. The check, she said, bounced.