Man pleads guilty to cashing dead mother’s Social Security checks for 20-plus years

ST. LOUIS (Gray News) - A Missouri man has pleaded guilty to cashing Social Security checks that were being sent for his deceased mother.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, 62-year-old Reginald Bagley had the Social Security bank statements sent to his address after his mother died in March of 1994.

Her death was not reported to the administration at that time.

Authorities said a bank account was established in 1998 to directly deposit Bagley’s mother’s benefits.

According to the attorney’s office, Bagley admitted to continually cashing the checks that were meant for his mother for over two decades that totaled nearly $200,000.

KMOV reports Bagley kept receiving checks until July 2020, when the Social Security Administration learned his mother was not using her Medicare benefits.

The 62-year-old reportedly then closed the bank account and got a check for the remaining balance after the Social Security Administration sent a letter trying to contact his mother.

Bagley is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2023. He has been ordered to repay the money while facing up to 10 years in prison.