SYRACUSE -- A Syracuse woman is accused of pretending to be her dead mother to get Social Security benefits.
49-year-old Janice Watts is facing federal charges of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement.
Federal prosecutors say she went to the Social Security Administration with four forms of identification belonging to her deceased mother and falsely identified herself as her dead mother.
Using her mother's ID, prosecutors say Watts tried to get her mother's social security benefits reinstated. They say she even gave officials a statement certifying that she was alive and well and signed the statement using her mother's name.
Her mother died on May 9th.
If convicted, Watts faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
