KEY POINTS:
An American woman who claimed more than $30,000 in welfare benefits under the name of a dead New Zealand girl will be deported on Sunda y.
Judge Bruce Davidson said Laurelyn Smith's actions had been like "opening a coffin" for the dead child's parents.
He sentenced Smith, 45, in Wellington District Court to two months and one week in prison and ordered her to pay $11,000 in reparation. She had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of impersonation and forgery.
She had already paid just over $11,000 in reparations.
An immigration officer told the court plans had been made for Smith to fly out on Sunday morning and, if sentenced to anything less than imprisonment, she would have been taken into custody by immigration services after today's sentencing.
Judge Davidson said although he had planned to sentence Smith to home detention, he would instead sentence her to a prison sentence that would allow her to be released today. That sentence took into account the time she had already spent in custody.
Smith entered New Zealand in June 1993 with an illegally obtained British passport.
She acquired the birth certificate of a New Zealand infant, who had died soon after birth in 1962 , and used the certificate to get an Inland Revenue number and set up a bank account.
Under the child's name she applied for an unemployment benefit and up to June 1 this year had received $30,408 in benefits .
When considering a possible sentence, Judge Davidson said he took into account the devastating effect Smith's actions had had on the parents of the dead child whose identity she had assumed.
Reading from a victim impact statement, Judge Davidson said the incident had meant the now elderly couple had felt they were reliving the saddest time of their lives.
"It's like opening a coffin again," he read.
The judge said although Smith had not previously been in New Zealand courts, it appeared she had previously appeared in the United States for fraud-related charges.
Smith will be held in custody by immigration services in Wellington for 72 hours until she leaves the country on Sunday.
She indicated through her lawyer that she would seek special permission to return to New Zealand to be with her husband.
- NZPA
