FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — A Fayetteville woman has pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $70,000 in survivor benefits over 14 years.
Pamela Denise Cobbs pleaded guilty July 16 in U.S. District Court to one count of theft of government funds.
Cobbs applied for survivor benefits for her minor daughter in 2000, when the man who she thought was the girl’s father died, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Cobbs later initiated a paternity suit and, in February 2001, discovered another man was the girl’s father.
A judge ordered that man to pay Cobbs child support, which she began receiving in addition to the survivor benefits.
Cobbs told investigators she failed to report the paternity results, which allowed her to collect $69,022 in survivor benefits from August 2001 through July 2015.
Cobbs faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. A sentencing hearing hasn’t been set.
