Mom accused of stealing daughter's identity, collecting financial aid pleads guilty
Laura A. Oglesby, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of intentionally furnishing false information to the Social Security Administration, the Department of Justice said. (Source: Mountain View Police Depa
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A 48-year-old mother could face five years in prison after pleading guilty to social security fraud on Dec. 6.
Investigators with the Mountain View Police Department arrested Laura A. Oglesby in August 2018. She was accused of financial fraud and embezzlement of more than $25,000.
Authorities said Oglesby applied for a Social Security card on Jan. 14, 2016, using the identity of her estranged daughter, Lauren Ashleigh Hays.
That same day, she used Hays’ name to get a Missouri driver’s license.
The next year, Oglesby used her daughter’s identity to enroll at a university and collect thousands of dollars in financial aid. Chief Jamie Perkins told The New York Times that school officials weren't the only ones duped by the scheme.
"Everybody believed it," Perkins said. "She even had boyfriends that believed that she was that age: 22 years old."
According to the Department of Justice, Oglesby received $9,400 in federal student loans, $5,920 in Pell Grants, $337 for books purchased at the university's bookstore, and $1,863 in finance charges.
As part of her plea agreement, she must repay $17,521 to the school.
"She had lived that life for a couple of years and basically just ruined her daughter’s credit," Perkins said.
Authorities will schedule a sentencing hearing after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation.
This story was reported from Atlanta.