Man gets 5+ years for burying mom to keep retirement checks

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – A northeast Florida man has been sentenced to five years and four months in federal prison for burying his dead mother in her backyard so that he could continue collecting her retirement payments.

A U.S. Attorney’s Office news release says 57-year-old Brian Lee Adams was sentenced Monday. He pleaded guilty in October to theft of government property and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors say Adams admitted that he failed to notify anyone that his mother had died of natural causes in July 2014. Adams told investigators that he used his mother’s name on Social Security and pension payment checks and transferred $35,345 between her accounts, which he used himself.

Authorities received a tip and discovered the woman’s body in June 2015.