HOUSTON (December 3, 2012)—Kline Fisher Budd, 81, of the Conroe area, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing the Social Security benefits of his mother who died in 1984.
A federal judge in Houston also ordered Budd to repay more than $243,000.
Budd pleaded guilty in August to theft of government property.
He was charged after a review in late 2010 of benefits for his mother, Willa Mae Shaughnesy, who at the time would have been 104 years old.
Authorities located a death certificate that indicated Shaughnesy died in November 1984.
Prosecutors say the woman and her son had a joint bank account in which her Social Security benefits continued to be deposited electronically after her death.
A judge accepted a plea agreement Friday and took into consideration Budd's age and health issues when sentencing him to prison.
