Woman gets 15 months for vet’s death benefit scam

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a South Carolina woman has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraudulently getting death benefits from her estranged Marine husband.

Federal prosecutors said 26-year-old Megan Mosteller of Pickens continued to collect the benefits for two-and-a-half years, even after remarrying.

Investigators say Mosteller’s estranged husband, Jeremy Mosteller, died in March 2008. Authorities say Megan Mosteller applied for survivor benefits three days later, even though the couple had been separated for three months.

Prosecutors say Mosteller remarried five months later, but didn’t change her name and continued to collect the benefits

Authorities say she also must pay back the more than $32,000 in benefits she illegally received.