HOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) -A Kansas woman has been sentenced to federal prison after making false claims that astronaut Anne McClain illegally accessed her bank account while deployed to the International Space Station, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Summer Heather Worden, 51, of Sedgwick County, Kansas, pleaded guilty on November 14, 2025, to making false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations to law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced her to three months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. The court also ordered Worden to pay $210,000 in restitution.
In July 2019, Worden alleged that her estranged spouse, astronaut Anne McClain, had guessed her password and illegally accessed her bank account while deployed to the International Space Station. However, evidence presented at sentencing showed the allegations were unfounded.
An investigation revealed that Worden had opened the bank account in April 2018, and both parties had accessed it until January 2019, when Worden changed the account credentials. Investigators determined that Worden had actually granted her spouse access to her bank records, including login credentials, as early as 2015.
Despite an internal investigation that exonerated McClain, Worden continued to promote the false claims to news outlets and hired a media consultant to amplify them. She also publicly released her...
HOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) -A Kansas woman has been sentenced to federal prison after making false claims that astronaut Anne McClain illegally accessed her bank account while deployed to the Internati...