Camco Man Kept Father's Death Secret to Collect Benefits
Michael Shelton admitted Monday to collecting more than $200,000 in Social Security payments issued in the name of his deceased father.
Michael Shelton amassed a small fortune cashing his dead father's Social Security checks over two decades, but the net result for him could be 10 years in federal prison. Shelton, 65, of Pennsauken, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Camden to one count of theft of government funds. Shelton entered his plea before his case was presented to a grand jury. Shelton admitted that when his father died in March 1990, he intentionally did not notify the Social Security Administration (SSA), as he was obligated to do, so he could continue to receive his father’s SSA retirement checks. The SSA discovered Shelton's father's death in June 2012, at which time the deceased man was receiving $977 in monthly retirement benefits. After his …
