- Missouri resident Laura Oglesby, 48, lived as her estranged daughter for around two years.
- She pleaded guilty on Monday to providing false information to the Social Security Administration.
- Oglesby told police she had been running from an abusive relationship, The New York Times reported.
A 48-year-old Missouri woman has admitted to using her estranged daughter's social security number to secure student loans, attend college, and acquire a driver's license.
Laura Oglesby pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of intentionally providing false information to the Social Security Administration, according to court documents seen by Insider.
Oglesby posed as her daughter for about two years in the city of Mountain View after obtaining a social security card in her daughter's name in January 2016. She later used it to get a Missouri driver's license.
In 2017, she enrolled in a college, which The New York Times identified as Southwest Baptist University, and received financial aid to attend classes there. Oglesby admitted to fraudulently obtaining $9,400 in federal student loans, $5,920 in Pell Grants, $337 for books purchased at the university bookstore, and $1,863 in finance charges.
As a part of her plea, she has to pay restitution to the university and her daughter.
"She had lived that life for a couple of years and basically just ruined her daughter's credit," Mountain View Police Chief Jamie Perkins told The New York Times.
Chief Perkins said she successfully duped people into believing she was in her 20s. "She even had boyfriends that believed that she was that age: 22 years old," he told The Times.
He said Oglesby had told him she was running from domestic violence but didn't offer further details about her history.
According to The Times, the police closed in on Oglesby after Arkansas authorities alerted them that in 2017 she had used her daughter's identity to embezzle $25,000.
Police pulled Oglesby over at a traffic stop and confronted her, and she admitted her real identity, The Times reported.
Stetson Schwien, assistant chief of the Mountain View Police Department, told NBC News: "I have never seen an ID case like this at all, whether from fleeing from abuse or any other type."
Oglesby may face up to five years in prison without parole. Her sentencing date has not yet been set.
A spokesperson for Southwest Baptist University told NBC: "We were saddened to learn about the situation and cooperated fully with the investigation. Our prayers are with all involved."
Southwest Baptist University did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.