A Florida woman was today sentenced to a year and a day in prison for keeping her dead mother's body in a bedroom for years while collecting more than $US230,000 in pension benefits, prosecutors said.

Penelope Sharon Jordan, 61, of Sebastian, Florida, pleaded guilty to theft of government funds in June, the US Attorney's Office in Miami said.

Police said when they found the body in a spare bedroom in March, Jordan told them her mother had been dead for at least six years. During the sentencing hearing, evidence indicated that Jordan told her sister their mother had died before December, 2001.

An autopsy on the body found no signs of foul play.

Jordan told the court she concealed her mother's death in order to continue collecting her Social Security and military pension benefits. Over a six-year period she received $US61,415 in Social Security payments and $US176,461 from the military pension.

She was ordered to repay $US237,876 to the government.

credited to news.com.au