MONTICELLO, N.Y. -- An upstate New York man has been sentenced to six months in jail for hiding his dead 98-year-old mother in a freezer and cashing her Social Security checks.

Rosland Auslander stuffed Herta Auslander's body in the freezer at their home in the hamlet of Cooks Falls, about 100 miles northwest of New York City, after she died of natural causes. He then cashed her checks for at least 18 months.

Police found the body in October 2008. Auslander pleaded guilty in July to grand larceny and forgery charges.

Auslander was sentenced Friday in a neighboring county where the checks were cashed. He was also given five years probation and a mental health examination was ordered.

The 70-year-old Auslander pleaded guilty to grand larceny and fraud charges in July. He still faces a charge of unlawfully disposing of a body.

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Information from: The Times Herald-Record of Middletown, www.recordonline.com