(NewsReady.com) – Parents have a legal obligation to keep their children safe from harm. Unfortunately, a New York mother not only failed to care for her son, she intentionally harmed him. Now, she’s been sentenced in federal court for stealing from the government as well.
On September 19, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced that 44-year-old Lisa Waldron was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. She’d previously pleaded guilty to charges of theft of government property. According to the press release, she admitted that she pretended to be a representative payee for her disabled son, Jordan Brooks. He was receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for his disability and his mother was supposed to use the money exclusively to support him.
Instead of using the money for her minor son, Waldron paid for unrelated expenses. In July, she pleaded guilty in state court to first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.
Brooks, 17, died in May 2021 from malnutrition and sepsis. He had cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair at the time of his death. Law enforcement said he only weighed 55 pounds when he passed away.
Authorities accused Waldron of slowly killing her son and using the Social Security funds for herself and her husband, Anthony Waldron. After Brooks died, the Waldrons failed to notify the Social Security Administration about his death and continued to use his disability payments on things like a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and fast food.
In addition to the two years for the federal charges, Mrs. Waldron will have to pay $5,948.06 to the Social Security Administration and $7,344.70 to the Crime Victims Fund. She has not received a sentence for the charges related to Brooks’ death. But the federal prison sentence and state sentence will have to be served consecutively.
Waldron is due in state court on September 28 to receive her sentence for the manslaughter and assault charges.
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