A Florida National Cemetery worker was arrested Monday morning after he allegedly stole a dead veteran’s wallet.
Kevin A. Cullen, 33, of Bushnell is facing theft-related charges after stealing from the veteran who had died at age 93. During World War II, he had served in the Atlantic as a torpedoman in the U.S. Navy.
Cullen had been tasked with interring the deceased.
The veteran passed away on Nov. 26, but his ashes were not interred at Florida National Cemetery until April 15.
While resolving the veteran’s financial affairs, family members discovered credit card charges on his account occurring the same day he was interred. After the discovery, the family reported the matter to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and administrators at the Florida National Cemetery.
Sumter sheriff’s detectives and a special agent from the Veterans Administration Office of Inspector General made contact with Cullen before he reported for duty Monday at the cemetery. During an interview at the sheriff’s office, Cullen admitted to removing the deceased veteran’s wallet from the urn. He discarded the contents of the wallet in the urn. He kept the wallet and credit card. Cullen allegedly purchased pizza and video gaming cards with the credit card.
Cullen is facing two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information of a deceased person in addition to charges of disturbing contents of a grave or tomb, theft of a credit card and petit theft.
He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Bond was set at $11,000.