An Overland Park couple will serve several months in federal prison for stealing retirement money and Social Security benefits from a dead relative over six years.
On Monday, Lynn and Kirk Ritter were sentenced in the U.S. District Court of Kansas in Kansas City, Kansas, for wire fraud and theft of government funds.
Lynn Ritter was sentenced to roughly one year in federal custody, while Kirk Ritter will serve seven months. The couple pleaded guilty to the charges in October 2024.
The Ritters hid the body of Mike Carroll, 81, Lynn’s father, in their Overland Park home while they collected more than $215,000 in retirement payments and social security benefits due to Carroll, according to court documents.
Carroll died in July 2016
A retired Sprint employee, Carroll received money from his retirement plan and social security benefits from January 2008 to November 2022.
While Carroll lived with the Ritters in their Overland Park home in the 11800 block of West 99th Terr., Lynn served as his primary caretaker, according to court documents.
After Carroll died in July 2016, the Ritters didn’t inform any authority — including local law enforcement or the federal Social Security Administration — of his death. Instead, prosecutors say the couple continued to transfer Carroll’s monthly benefits to their bank accounts.
Following Carroll’s death in 2016, the couple made a total of 76 direct deposits into their accounts, totaling $147,430 in social security benefits and $68,638 from his retirement plan, according to court records.
Carroll’s body was found in the house
On Oct. 23, 2022, Kirk Ritter contacted the Overland Park Police Department and informed them that Carroll had died and his body was inside their home.
When the police arrived, they discovered Carroll’s body in a “mummified state,” according to court documents.
After removing the body, authorities determined Carroll died in July 2016 because that’s when his pacemaker stopped working, according to a Kansas City Star report.
The couple was not charged for storing Carroll’s body because keeping a dead body undisturbed in someone’s home is allowed under Kansas law.
The couple has paid back the stolen money
During their prosecution, the couple paid back the stolen money, according to a press release from the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
The Ritters’ sentencing shows people who steal retirement benefits will be punished, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Kansas City regional office stated in a press release.
“These sentencings show the Labor Department is committed to ensuring that justice is served for those who steal from retirement plans,” Mark Underwood, regional director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Kansas City regional office, said in a press release.
Go deeper: OP couple pleads guilty to hiding corpse and stealing relative’s benefits after man died
