A Lauderdale Lakes woman who used her late father’s Social Security benefits for Miami Heat tickets, Costco shopping trips and concerts has been sentenced to five months in prison, the Justice Department said.
Terri Lynn Hankerson, 59, will also have to pay restitution for the theft of nearly $50,000, as well as five months of house arrest after she is released from prison.
According to the Department of Justice, Hankerson’s father received his Social Security benefits in a direct deposit retirement account. Hankerson, a joint account owner, failed to notify the Social Security Administration of her father’s death in June 2016 and continued to use the account until benefits were suspended in February 2020.
She spent nearly $50,000 at concerts, a local strip club, Miami Heat games, Costco, hotels, bars and other places, according to the Justice Department.
A federal jury convicted Hankerson after a four-day trial, and the sentence was imposed by Senior United States District Court Judge James I. Cohn.
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