Cambridge Woman Admits To Impersonating Her Dead Mother

CAMBRIDGE, MA — A Cambridge woman admitted she impersonated her dead mother for nine years to collect more than $80,000 in Social Security and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Phaedra M. Sheets, 45, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to two counts of theft of public funds. Federal prosecutors said Sheets stole $71,636 from the Social Security Administration and $12,923 in SNAP benefits between December 2009 and September 2018.

Sheets never reported her mother's 2009 death to the Social Security Administration or the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, which administers the SNAP program, according to an indictment handed down earlier this year.

Sheets continued to collect benefits from both agencies and posed as her mother when SSA called to review her benefits claim. She also posed as her mother when contacted by DTA and continued to use her mother's SNAP card to make purchases.

Sheets will be sentenced on Dec. 17. She faces up to 10 years in prison, three years supervised releas and fines up to $250,000.