A woman out of southwest Virginia is expected to enter into a guilty plea for charges that she kept Social Security and Black Lung Survivor’s Benefits that were being paid to her mother, over a period of 18 years.

 

Martha Williams has already signed a plea agreement of theft of government property and employee benefits fraud.

 

She stands accused of forging her mother’s name on annual updates in order to continue collecting her benefits up until 2021. Her mother died in 2003. Williams is accused of pocketing over a quarter of a million dollars in that time.

 

Due to a deal with prosecutors, she will likely face a sentence of less than a year, after she pleads guilty on May 23rd.