Inset: Wendy Stone leaving federal court in Monroe County, New York in November 2024 (WHAM). Background: the home where Stone concealed her boyfriend’s deceased body (WHAM).
A 63-year-old woman from New York has been sentenced to prison for concealing her boyfriend’s body in a recycling bin in their basement for several months, occasionally using bleach to mask the odor, while fraudulently collecting thousands from his Social Security checks.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. sentenced Wendy Stone to 12 months in a federal prison following her agreement with prosecutors. She pled guilty to one count of unlawful conversion of government funds, as announced by the authorities.
Stone had initially been facing up to a decade in prison after her arrest last year, when prosecutors charged her with theft of government funds, aggravated identity theft, and making a false statement to obtain Social Security benefits. She is accused of using the money for purchases at restaurants and stores, as well as ATM cash withdrawals.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, Stone’s boyfriend, Kenneth Crisman, died at the couple’s residence in Rochester on Dec. 28, 2022. Rochester is about 300 miles northwest of Manhattan.
But prosecutors said Stone’s nefarious conduct began even before the victim’s death, when Crisman requested a replacement debit card for his benefits, which arrived at his home four days before he died, and was taken by Stone. She apparently discovered his body in the home several days after he died.
Aware that Crisman was receiving Social Security benefits, Stone decided not to tell anyone about his death and continue collecting the benefits. Instead, she decided to conceal Crisman’s body in the downstairs portion of the home they once shared.
“Stone moved [Crisman’s] corpse into the basement of the residence [Crisman] died in,” prosecutors wrote in the release. “She wrapped [Crisman’s] corpse in plastic, placed it in a recycling bin, and periodically poured bleach on it. [Crisman’s] corpse remained in the basement from December 2022 to September 2023.”
In the complaint, prosecutors clarified that Stone poured bleach on the body in an effort to “prevent foul odor.”
Crisman died on Dec. 28, 2022, but his debit card was activated with a new PIN on Jan. 6, 2023, and the first charges to the new debit card began the following day. By Jan. 15, the card was depleted with charges at a restaurant, Walmart, The Home Depot, Staples, and ATM withdrawals, prosecutors said.
Stone was captured on surveillance video shopping at a Walmart in Greece, New York, on Aug. 10, 2023, when she was used the debit card, authorities said in court documents. She was also seen in a security photo taken by an ATM making withdrawals of $400 and $300 on June 6, 2023. The card was also used to open a Rent-A-Center account on March 7, 2023, for $1,815.05.
Overall, authorities say Stone took $7,902 of benefits intended for Crisman between January and September 2023.
“In addition, on February 6, 2023, Stone recertified SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits,” the release says. “In her recertification, Stone stated that [Crisman] still resided with her. As a result of this false information, Stone received an additional $1,072.00 in SNAP benefits that she was not entitled to receive.”
