Fall River Woman Sentenced for Stealing Her Child’s Social Security Benefits

BOSTON (WBSM) — The Fall River woman who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $90,000 in Social Security benefits intended for her child has been sentenced to federal prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Nancy Taylor, 45, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $86,994 in restitution.

How Taylor Scammed Social Security

In August 2014, Taylor applied to receive benefits on behalf of her child as a representative payee. At that time, the Social Security Administration informer her of her obligation to notify the department if the child left her custody.

Taylor then embezzled the $86,994.58 in Social Security benefits during the period of May 2016 through May 2022 that were intended for her minor child. However, she had not notified the Social Security Administration when she lost custody of the child in May 2016.

Instead, Taylor actually called the SSA in October 2021 to update the contact info for the child so she could continue to receive the benefits.

Taylor Also Went to the Social Security Office to Continue the Scam

Taylor visited the SSA field office in June 2022 to reactivate the child’s benefits. During that visit, she provided two fraudulent forms claiming the child still lived with her and that she spent all of the benefits she received on the child’s care. In actuality, she had been using the “vast majority” of the funds to pay her own bills, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Taylor Gets Arrested and Indicted

Taylor was arrested on April 2, 2024 and was indicted by a federal grand jury later that month. In February 2025, she pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money. She had been facing up to 10 years in prison for the crime.