PORTLAND, Maine — A local woman was sentenced on Thursday to two years of probation in connection with the theft of benefits intended for a friend that had died, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Tammy J. McKenney, 50, was also ordered to pay $26,646.60 in restitution at her sentencing in U.S. District Court.
McKenney pleaded guilty to the charge of theft of public money in January.
According to court documents, a friend of McKenney’s, Barbara Winter, had been receiving dependency and compensation from the Veteran’s Administration after the death of Winter’s husband in 1989. Winter and McKenney had opened a joint bank account after moving in together in 2001.
After Winter died in 2012, the benefits continued to be deposited into the account, and McKenney regularly would access the account and spend the money before the VA was informed of Winter’s death in 2014.
McKenney received more than $25,000 in illegal benefits. She had faced up to 10 years in federal prison.
