Dellwood man pleads guilty to cashing his dead mother’s Social Security checks for 26 years

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- A St. Louis County man pleaded guilty to cashing Social Security checks sent for his dead mother for 26 years. The checks totaled nearly $200,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said 62-year-old Reginald Bagley had the Social Security bank statements sent to his address after his mother died in March of 1994. Her death was not reported to the administration at the time. Bagley kept receiving checks until July 2020, when the Social Security Administration learned Bagley’s mother was not using her Medicare benefits.

A bank account was established in 1998 to directly deposit Bagley’s mother’s benefits. Bagley admitted to continually cashing the checks that were meant for his mother for more than two decades. Bagley closed the bank account in 2020 and got a check for the remaining balance after the Social Security Administration sent a letter trying to contact his mother. The total amount reportedly stolen by Bagley over the years is $197,329.

He will be sentenced on March 29. He has been ordered to repay the money and faces up to 10 years in prison.

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