Kentucky man collected his dead father’s Social Security checks for nearly 10 years

A Pike County man failed to report that his father had died and kept getting the dead man’s Social Security checks for nearly 10 years.

William Cummins pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing $115,172 from the Social Security Administration from late 2008 through about March 2018, according to a court record.

After Cummins’ father died, Cummins accessed his Social Security account online and changed the direct deposit information to a different bank. He used a debit card authorized through the federal agency to get the money in order to avoid getting caught, according to his plea agreement.

The plea deal calls for Cummins, 52, to make restitution. The maximum sentence on the charge would be 10 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier ordered Cummins jailed after his plea hearing April 19.

He is to be sentenced in August.

Court records show several drug and alcohol charges in Pike County against a person of the same name and age.

This story was originally published April 23, 2019 at 9:16 AM.