CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A former PNC bank manager has admitted to stealing more than $60,000 from a dead client's account.

Lamont Hankins forged documents and lied to employees about his relationship with the dead client to siphon money from the account that he used for himself, including airfare for himself and his wife, according to court records.

Hankins pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Cleveland to one charge of embezzlement. He agreed to pay back the $60,181 he took.

U.S. District Judge Bridget Brennan set sentencing for Feb. 20. Hankins faces a potential sentencing range of home confinement to 16 months in prison.

His attorney, Charles Langmack, said his client accepted responsibility and "looks forward to making it up to the community."

Hankins carried out the scheme in late 2021, according to court records. His customer had opened a bank account at the branch in June 1971 and died on Sept. 22, 2015.

As manager of PNC's Harvard-Lee branch, Hankins had unfettered access to clients' accounts and oversaw relaying information to auditors, according to court records.

On Sept. 8, he lied on bank records saying he spoke with the dead client about reactivating her dormant account. He changed her address in the system and issued two debit cards linked to the account.

Hankins made 193 transactions totaling $22,611, including for airfare. He siphoned $31,536 more by sending money from the client's account to his personal accounts.

During one transfer on Dec. 20, 2021, Hankins told a bank teller that the woman whose account he stole from was his aunt. He told the same teller he had opened an account under the woman's name because he was hiding money from his wife, according to court records.