Steven M. Blankenship pleaded guilty to desecrating human remains and theft by deception after hiding his cousin's death.

The guilty plea is a conviction on the two counts he admitted, second-degree desecrating human remains and third-degree theft by deception. It is not the sentence. Ten years is the term prosecutors agreed to recommend. He previously rejected a 12-year offer.

Steven M. Blankenship, 59, of Fairfield Township in Cumberland County, New Jersey, pleaded guilty at an Oct. 9, 2026, hearing to second-degree desecrating human remains and third-degree theft by deception, NJ.com reported. He admitted he hid the July 2024 death of his cousin, Michael S. Blankenship, 72, a Marine Corps veteran, and collected the man's state benefits for more than eight months, the outlet reported. At the hearing he admitted he was his cousin's caretaker, that he stashed the body, and that he illegally collected the benefits, NJ.com reported. WFPG also reported the plea. The New York Post reported it Oct. 25.

Under the plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend 10 years in prison, and Blankenship must pay about $15,000 in restitution to the New Jersey Department of Labor, NJ.com reported. He previously rejected a 12-year offer. Sentencing is Dec. 11. A grand jury indicted him in July 2025 on second-degree desecrating human remains, third-degree theft by deception, third-degree fraudulent use of a credit card, and fourth-degree tampering with evidence, NJ.com reported. The plea he entered is to the desecration and theft-by-deception counts.

In April 2025, New Jersey State Police troopers doing a well-being check at a trailer at Evergreen Estates noticed an odor "consistent with decomposition," forced the door, and found the body wrapped in three layers of plastic in a rear bedroom closet, NJ.com reported. The closet knob had been removed, and the door was sealed with electrical tape, the outlet reported. The New York Post described the seal as duct tape.

NJ.com reported a handwritten note police believe Blankenship wrote. It said the man died July 27, 2024, of "dementia-related causes," described leaving the body on the floor two days before the closet was sealed, and said he paid bills with his cousin's income because of his own physical and financial decline. Michael Blankenship was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1970, worked as a forklift operator, retired on disability in 2001, lived at the residence more than 40 years, and was buried with full military honors in 2025, NJ.com reported, citing his obituary.

The guilty plea is a conviction on the desecration and theft-by-deception counts he admitted. The court has not imposed a sentence. The 10-year figure is a recommendation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.