A federal grand jury in Tucson has indicted a 48-year-old man on accusations that he kept more than $104,000 in Social Security benefits that continued flowing into his deceased mother's bank account for nearly five years. Ruffin Alford III is now facing a theft of government money charge, with a court appearance scheduled for later this month.
Prosecutors allege Alford kept $104,013 in Social Security benefits paid into his deceased mother's account between October 2020 and August 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, as reported by KVOA. That's nearly five years of monthly payments into the account, according to the allegations, with Alford allegedly keeping the benefits.
The indictment, which forth.news reports was returned earlier this month, marks a federal charge against Alford. Investigators with the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General looked into the case before it reached the grand jury, per the same federal filing cited by KVOA.
Court Date Set for Later This Month
Alford is due in federal court on September 25, the outlet notes, where he'll face the single count tied to the alleged theft. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the station reports.
As KTAR News notes, officials announced the indictment. No plea, trial date beyond the September 25 appearance, or statement from Alford or a defense attorney has been made public.
Not an Isolated Kind of Case
The examples below involve relatives and benefits paid to deceased family members. Materials from the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General discuss representative-payee investigations and oversight.
Other recent examples include a Rochester woman who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $13,000 in pension payments issued to her deceased mother, according to RochesterFirst. In New York, two Westchester sisters admitted to stealing $22,000 of their deceased mother's pension payments, per a release from the New York State Comptroller's office.
The Alford case remains pending, with the facts limited to what prosecutors have alleged so far. No outcome, restitution figure, or plea has been announced ahead of his scheduled September 25 court appearance.
