Mother Charged With Faking Son's Retardation

Dec. 6, 2006 — -- It's a tale of unimaginable fraud.

A mother has been charged with making her son masquerade as a mentally retarded person for nearly 20 years.

Now, federal prosecutors are cracking down on Rosie Marie Costello and her son, Peter, who may have bilked more than $220,000 from the government in fraudulent claims.

Surveillance video shows Rosie Marie trying to get government aid for Peter, whom she claimed was a 26-year-old with the mental capacity of a toddler.

A week later in a courtroom in Vancouver, Wash., the supposedly incapacitated Peter was caught on camera putting up a perfectly coherent argument in a bid to get out of a traffic ticket.

Prosecutors say Rosie Marie confessed to coaching her son to fake symptoms of mental retardation since he was 8 years old.

She also admitted that she lied about having a mentally disabled daughter too, though the girl may not even be related to the Costellos.

U.S. attorney Norman Barbosa called the Costellos' case atrocious.

"Fortunately I don't think it is terribly common. This is a pretty egregious case. We don't see this very often, but when we do, we're going to go after it with all the resources at our disposal," Barbosa said.

Both courtroom tapes are being used as evidence by federal prosecutors.

Mother and son could face up to 10 years in prison.