What to Know
- Former NYPD cop used his dead mother's identity to steal nearly $100,000 in benefits.
- Edward St. Hill, along with his wife Maria Ramos, collected more than $38,000 in Social Security and $50,000 in from the SEIU Pension Fund.
- St. Hill will spend between two and six years in prison after pleading guilty to grand larceny and other charges.
An NYPD officer was sentenced to at least two years in prison for using his dead mother's identity to steal nearly $100,000 in benefits.
Edward St. Hill, 52, kept up his mother Germain’s finances as if she were alive for more than a year after her June 2016 death. St. Hill, along with his wife Maria Ramos, impersonated his mother in numerous phone calls as part of the vast scheme, according to investigators.
St. Hill used his inside police knowledge to forge NYPD paperwork, helping the dastardly duo collect more than $38,000 in Social Security and $50,000 in from the SEIU Pension Fund, prosecutors said.
The former Brooklyn cop was forced to resign from the department and pleaded guilty in March to grand larceny, possession of a controlled substance, and attempted criminal possession of a weapon.
"This former police officer allowed greed to overtake his principles to the point where he was willing to use his dead mother’s identity to steal tens of thousands of dollars,” Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said. “He is now paying a steep price — the loss of his job and the loss of his freedom.”
The couple also used false documents to fraudulently close on the sale of Germaine’s home, which got them another $260,000, and refilled her painkiller prescription more than a dozen times after she died.
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Ramos pleaded guilty in March, and will sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay back more than $128,000 to Social Security and the pension fund.
St. Hill could be behind bars for up to six years.
