Mobile Woman Sentenced for Felony Theft from Social Security Administration

MOBILE, AL - A Mobile woman who lied about her living situation was sentenced today five years of probation for unlawfully receiving Social Security benefits for many years, a felony offense.

According to court documents, Cheryl Bradley, 64, accompanied her husband to the Social Security office in Mobile in January 2023, for her husband to apply for benefits. At the time, she told a clerk that she and her husband were married and had lived together since 1988. This was contrary to what she had told the agency in June 2007, when she applied for benefits and said that they were separated. The agency approved her application for benefits. In 2012, she had told the agency that she and her husband had been separated since about 1990. Those two representations were important because her living situation and her spouse's earnings should have been but were not factored into whether she remained eligible for benefits or as much benefits. The Social Security benefits paid to her over the years were from a needs-based program.

In 2021 and 2022, Bradley's husband had substantial earnings as a truck driver, and she had the benefit of those earnings since they were married and lived together. As a result, she was ineligible for benefits in those years, and she was eligible for lesser benefit amounts in the years between 2007 and 2020.

The court also ordered that Bradley pay the agency restitution in the amount of $88,626.94, and pay a $100.00 Special Assessment.

The Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration investigated the case. "For over a decade, Cheryl Bradley falsely reported her marital status and living arrangements to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and fraudulently obtained over $88,000 in needs-based Supplemental Security Income benefits that she should not have gotten. This sentence holds her accountable for her criminal actions and I thank the U.S. Attorney's Office for their assistance in prosecuting this case," stated Rodregas W. Owens, Special Agent in Charge SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Atlanta Field Division.

U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex F. Lankford, IV prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.