CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A Jackson County, West Virginia, woman has been sentenced in connection to Social Security fraud.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Monique Casto, 37, of Kenna, will spend the next 10 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. She has also been ordered to pay $41,166 in restitution, according to the DOJ. Casto was convicted of fraudulently obtaining Social Security Administration benefits.

Court documents and statements say Casto illegally collected $41,166 in Social Security Survivor’s Insurance Benefits on a child’s behalf. However, the DOJ says Casto had lost custody of that child.

The DOJ says Social Security payee benefits are based on income and living arrangements, and in the case of the child, must be used for the well-being of the child.

According to the DOJ, Casto started receiving benefits as the representative payee for a child in March 2006. Court records say she did not disclose that in June 2015, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources took custody of that child and that her parental rights were terminated in May 2016.

Court documents say that Casto continued to collect the benefits from June 2015 through August 2019.