DAYTON, Ky. (AP) - The caretaker of an Air Force veteran has been sentenced to four years in prison for using the veteran’s credit card as he lay buried underneath a northern Kentucky home for nine months.
News outlets report that 41-year-old Christy Russell was sentenced Monday and ordered to pay back $32,822 in restitution. Russell pleaded guilty in April to fraudulently using 55-year-old Steven Reis’ credit card to take advantage of his veteran benefits.
Authorities aren’t sure how Reis came to be buried underneath a vacant Dayton home.
Reis’ body was discovered in September and authorities believe he died in January 2015. Police said in a statement that an autopsy couldn’t determine his cause of death.
Police say others had also lived in the house with Russell, but no one has been charged.
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