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SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A 78-year-old Shreveport woman faces up to 10 years in prison for cashing Social Security checks mistakenly sent to a dead man for nearly three decades.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Rose Marie Jackson Allen will be sentenced Sept. 8. She pleaded guilty Wednesday to theft of government property. Court records show she shared a post office box with a Thomas Jackson, whose 1986 death was not discovered until last year. She collected more than $200,000 in illegal benefits.
Her relationship with Jackson, who died at age 71, isn't revealed in court records. Documents say she endorsed the checks with Jackson's name and her own, cashing them at a neighborhood store.
Documents state the lack of a Social Security number on Jackson's death certificate may have contributed to the errors.
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