ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis woman appeared in federal court on Tuesday to be sentenced for stealing her late grandmother’s government benefits.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri said Shamari Jackson, 33, did not properly report her father and grandmother’s deaths to the Social Security Administration. As a result, the SSA continued to deposit Social Security benefits into her grandmother’s account.
Jackson admitted using her grandmother’s debit card to access more than $13,000 in Social Security benefits that had been deposited post-death.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said Jackson also received and used her grandmother’s $1,200 COVID-19 stimulus check, even though she’d passed away.
Jackson pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of theft of government money.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Jackson to five years of probation and 40 hours of community service.