CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Mingo County woman has been sentenced for stealing military death benefits.

Jessica Horton, 53, of Matewan, pleaded guilty to theft of government money back in June. Last week, she was sentenced to four months in prison followed by four months of house arrest.

Horton admitted to collecting checks mailed for the benefit of her great aunt, whose husband died in World War II.

The scheme originally began with Horton’s mother, who had access to the great aunt’s mailbox and began collecting the checks when the widow died in 1999. After Horton’s mother died in 2011, Horton then began cashing the checks and keeping the money.

“Month after month for more than a decade, this defendant knowingly and intentionally took money that was intended to aid veterans and their families,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson, the grandson of a World War II veteran. “Fraud of this nature worsens the strain on a vital support system at the expense of those families as well as the American taxpayers and their confidence in our government.”

In addition to her jail and home detention sentences, Horton has also been ordered to repay the money she collected, which totals more than $181,000.