A Tijuana woman who took more than $268,000 in retirement benefits intended for her dead mother was sentenced in San Diego federal court Monday to one year and a day in prison.
Kimberly Kay Brandt, a 51-year-old U.S. citizen living in Tijuana, hid her mother's death from the Social Security Administration for 13 years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say Brandt's mother died in Mexico in 2010, but Brandt did not notify the SSA.
Instead, she impersonated her in a call to her mother's bank in order to continue receiving her retirement benefits, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
She also impersonated her mother on a separate occasion when the SSA learned of her mother's death and halted the payments, prosecutors said.
Three weeks after the benefits ceased, Brandt was arrested at the San Ysidro Port of Entry while trying to cross into the United States. She pleaded guilty to social security fraud less than two months later.
Along with custody, Brandt was ordered to pay $268,143 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.
