A Fall River resident, Nancy Taylor, has been sentenced in a federal court in Boston for misappropriating her child's Social Security benefits over six years. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV sentenced the 45-year-old to 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Taylor is also required to pay $86,994 in restitution after pleading guilty to one count of theft of government money earlier this year.
Taylor was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024 for embezzling approximately $86,994 from May 2016 through May 2022. The funds were intended for her minor child. When Taylor applied for these benefits as a representative payee in August 2014, she was informed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that she must notify them if her child left her custody.
Despite losing custody of her child in May 2016, Taylor failed to inform the SSA and continued receiving benefits. In October 2021, she updated contact information with the SSA to keep receiving the payments. Further deceit occurred in June 2022 when Taylor visited an SSA field office and submitted fraudulent forms asserting that her child resided with her and that all benefits were used for their care. Instead, most funds were spent on personal expenses.
The case announcement was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Amy Connelly, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General's Office of Investigations in Boston Field Division. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg prosecuted the case.
