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Woman Sentenced For Storing Mother's Body, Cashing Checks

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WikiMedia Commons

A Mohawk Valley woman is going to jail for keeping her 93-year-old mother's corpse for over a year so she could cash her benefit checks.

Mary Kersting of Gloversville admitted in September that she cashed her mother's Social Security and pension checks totaling nearly $14,000 while the woman's body decomposed in an apartment downstairs.

Authorities say Hope Ruller died in October 2013 from unknown causes. Her 60-year-old daughter lived upstairs from her.

Kersting was sentenced in Fulton County Court on Friday to two six-month jail terms to be served concurrently. Then she'll also be on probation for five years and must do 500 hours of community service.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.