LI Woman Cashed $48K In Dead Grandmother's SSA Benefits: Nassau DA

MINEOLA, NY — A Freeport woman was arrested Tuesday and charged with grand larceny after allegedly receiving her grandmother's social security benefits for a decade after the woman died, prosecutors said.

Alexandria Sobrane, 46, was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court on March 27.

"The defendant allegedly bilked the Social Security Administration out of nearly $50,000 by continuing to cash her grandmother’s check well after the woman passed away in 2008," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. "Social Security retirement benefits are meant to help Americans in their golden years, not enrich criminals."

According to the charges, Sobrane's grandmother, Hannah Sobrane, was born in 1920, and wrote children's books under the pen name Babe Power.

Beginning in 1985, Hannah began receiving Social Security benefits in the name of Babe Power. After she passed away in 2008, her granddaughter allegedly continued to cash her grandmother's Social Security checks at a local grocery store, Donnelly said.

Later, Alexandria Sobrane allegedly contacted the Social Security Administration and requested that the benefits be deposited on a debit card. She allegedly received more than $48,000 in SSA benefits that she was not entitled to.

If convicted of the charge, Alexandra Sobrane faces a potential maximum of two and one-third years to seven years in prison.