Woman posed as dead spouse and attended online courses to get student aid, feds say

A woman used her dead spouse’s identity to fraudulently obtain federal student aid and attended online classes to remain eligible, according to federal prosecutors in Oregon.

The 55-year-old woman used her dead spouse’s personal information to enroll at three colleges and universities in Oregon and apply for federal student aid between Sept. 2017 and April 2019, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

Authorities arrested the woman at her home in Central Point, about 270 miles south of Portland, on Nov. 15, the release says.

She also attended online classes while pretending to be her dead spouse, the release says. She passed first-term courses at each institution in which she was enrolled in order to continue collecting the aid.

Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Rogue Community College in Grants Pass and Western Oregon University in Monmouth, sent a total of $36,341 in aid to her bank account, the release says.

An attorney for the woman could not be found.

She faces charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and student loan fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges on Nov. 16 and has been released from custody. A jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 24.

If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in federal prison on wire fraud and five years in federal prison on student aid fraud, the release says. She could face up to two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft charge to begin consecutive to any other sentence imposed.

This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Woman posed as dead spouse and attended online courses to get student aid, feds say."