Norwalk Man Admits Cashing His Dead Mother’s Social Security Checks; Collected More Than $90,000 Over More Than 7 Years

A Norwalk man has pleaded guilty to illegally cashing his dead mother’s Social Security checks for more than seven years after she died.

Paul Wiegman, 54, pleaded guilty in federal court in Bridgeport to one criminal count of theft of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for Connecticut.

Wiegman lived with his mother, who died at her home in December 2002. But Wiegman, according to court documents and statements made in court, never notified the federal government about her death.

“From December 2002 until April 2010, Wiegman received and used a total of $90,188 in Social Security benefit payments that had been deposited into his mother’s bank account,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said. “Wiegman also made several false statements to Social Security Administration officials investigating this matter, including that his mother was still alive but was unable to speak, and that she was alive and living with a family friend.”

When Wiegman is sentenced on October 3, he faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison, fines as high as $250,000 and restitution to the government.