A Douglasville woman will spend a year behind bars for stealing nearly $160,000 worth of disability benefits intended for her husband, who died several years ago.
Linda Nickolson, 57, continued collecting the man’s monthly checks even though he died in 2009, prosecutors said Thursday.
Rather than report his death to the Social Security Administration, Nickolson spent the money on herself, authorities said.
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“Her family members repeatedly told her that she needed to notify the SSA that her husband had died and that she could go to jail if she spent the benefit monies,” prosecutors said in a news release. “Nickolson chose to ignore this advice. When she was finally confronted by the SSA, she lied and claimed that she thought she was entitled to receive her husband’s disability benefits because she was his next of kin.”
Nickolson pleaded guilty in September and was recently sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay back $159,243, the amount she collected since her husband’s death, authorities said.
“The money this defendant stole was intended for disabled people who cannot work,” U.S. Attorney BJay Pak said. “Nickolson was able-bodied but chose not to work, and instead supported herself by stealing from the government. Social Security benefit theft is not a victimless crime; it harms everyone who has paid into the Social Security system.”
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