Jacksonville man Brian Adams collected more than $35,000 in social security and pension payments meant for his mother after burying her in the backyard when she died of natural causes and impersonating her on bank documents for nearly a year. Photo by Ron Reiring/Flickr

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A Jacksonville, Fla., man is headed to jail for burying his mother in her backyard and then collected her retirement and pension benefits for a year.

Brian Adams pleaded guilty to theft of government property and aggravated identity charges Tuesday in federal court for stealing and spending the money after he did not notify authorities his mother had died.


During a missing persons investigation for Adams' 80-year-old mother in June 2015, the Clay County Sheriff's Office discovered the scheme Adams had been running after receiving her social security and pension payments.

Using his mother's name, Adams impersonated her on banking documents and wrote checks to transfer money between her accounts, spending the money on himself and eventually collecting $35,345.

When the theft was uncovered, Adams admitted to police he did not report her death from natural causes to anybody, instead burying her in the backyard of their Green Cove Springs home.

Adams was arrested in North Carolina on a warrant for violating probation connected to a possession of methamphetamine charge, but was not charged immediately with stealing his mother's money after she died.

A sentencing date has not been set for Adams. He will face at least two years for aggravated identity theft and may be sentenced to as many as 12 years in prison for the whole of his crimes.