RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CN) - A deputy public defender in California's Inland Empire was charged Wednesday with stealing $130,000 in Social Security benefits paid to her dead grandmother, federal prosecutors said.
Audrey Owens, 60, of Upland, was charged with theft of government property, a felony, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
After her grandma died in May 2000, Owens changed the address of a joint account they shared and kept accepting her Social Security checks through August 2012, according to the U.S. attorney.
If convicted, Owens faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
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