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Linda Miller, 59, served the six months sentence she plea-bargained with prosecutors while remaining in custody as the case proceeded, Superior Court Judge Christopher R. Kazlau ruled.
She must remain on probation for five years and pay full restitution, under the deal.
“Devious offenders like Miller drain critical resources that are needed to keep the Social Security program strong,” New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said Friday.
Miller, who pleaded guilty in the New Jersey case two months ago, also remained on supervised release out of New York for stealing more than $162,000 of pension payments in her dead mother's name, they said.
"It was the Office of the State Comptroller in New York that first learned that the mother had died but that Social Security benefits were still being paid for her," Porrino said. "That office referred the matter to the U.S. Social Security Administration."
Miller's mother, Josephine, retired from the Port Authority and died in 2006 with no designated recipient of benefits, authorities said.
Her daughter "continued to collect her mother’s Social Security benefits until July 2014," Porrino said.
Deputy Attorney General Anthony Torntore prosecuted Miller and handled the sentencing.
The indictment followed an investigation by the state Division of Criminal Justice, the Inspector General of the U.S. Social Security Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Porrino said.
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