Linda MillerNJOAG
TRENTON — A Bergen County woman was given a six-month jail sentence and five years probation after admitting she collected benefits in her dead mother’s name, authorities said.
Linda Miller, 59, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree theft by deception after investigators in New York and New Jersey found she was collecting a pension and Social Security payments after her mother, a retired Port Authority employee, died in 2006.
She was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Christopher R. Kazlau in Bergen County on Friday, according to a statement from New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino.
Authorities said she had already served the required jail time and was out on supervised release after pleading guilty to larceny in a New York court, where she was also charged in the scheme.
Miller was accused of fraudulently collecting her mother’s Social Security benefits for eight years after her death, stealing $128,131 from the program.
Porrino said such thefts “drain critical resources that are needed to keep the Social Security program strong.”
In the New York case, authorities said she drew more than $162,000 from her mother’s pension.
She was ordered to pay full restitution as part of her sentence on the New Jersey charges, authorities said.
S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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