Aiken funeral home owner Cody Anderson and co-defendant Thomas Allen Bateman each will serve two years in prison for trying to steal millions from a woman with dementia.
U.S. District Judge for the South Carolina District Joseph F. Anderson Jr. ordered Anderson, 38, to serve 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bateman received an identical sentence earlier this year. There is no parole in the federal system.
Anderson owned the George Funeral Home and ran for S.C. House of Representatives in 2019. During the pandemic, the elderly victim executed a will purporting to leave her $20 million estate to Bateman, while Anderson would be paid 5%, or $1 million, to serve as her personal representative, according to prosecutors.
The investigation determined the 88-year-old woman lacked the mental capacity to execute the will. According to prior reports, Bateman drove the victim to the funeral home, where she allegedly signed the will in his car, witnessed by three funeral home employees.
The victim and her husband had previously designated their assets to friends and charitable organizations. While living in the assisted living community Shadow Oaks, she was befriended by Anderson, the well known former owner of the historic Constantine House.
This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Matthews and Winston Holliday prosecuted the case.
