Woman indicted for collecting benefits on husband she killed

Published 9:13 am Tuesday, May 2, 2017

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A 71-year-old woman has been indicted for claiming nearly $168,000 in Social Security widow’s benefits off the death of the husband she was convicted of killing in 1987.

AL.com reports a news release from Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey on Monday says a Birmingham federal grand jury indicted Opal Elaine Tillman with five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government property for claiming benefits from 2009 to 2016.

Email newsletter signup

Tillman is currently serving a sentence of 10 years in prison with 18 months to serve from stealing $601,000 from an elderly couple she was caring for from 2011 to 2015, in an unrelated case.

In 1988, Tillman was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her husband’s death, but was released into the Jefferson County Community Corrections program in 1996.