NORWICH – A woman who received $36,228.50 of benefits which she was not entitled to was sentenced to six months incarceration in the Chenango County Correctional Facility, followed by five years of post-release supervision. She will also be required to pay back restitution in the full amount.

Jessica L. Branagan-Anderson, 30, of the Town of Norwich, agreed to plead guilty to welfare fraud in the third degree, a class D felony, when she reappeared in Chenango County Court on Friday, Oct. 7.

It was alleged that during the months of April, 2010, through July, 2016, Branagan-Anderson received the benefits, in the amount of $36,228.50, unlawfully, as she withheld the income of her husband. The Chenango County Department of Social Services Fraud Investigation Unit assisted in the investigation.