ELLSWORTH, Maine – The state has dropped
income-tax evasion charges filed against a Mariaville woman cleared of
allegedly bilking an elderly uncle suffering from dementia out of
$213,000.
The dismissal prosecutors filed Friday at
Hancock County Superior Court came about a month after a criminal court
jury there declared 58-year-old Lisa Harriman not guilty of theft and
misuse of entrusted property.
The four counts of intentional evasion of
Maine income tax, two counts of theft by deception, five counts of
failure to pay income tax and a single count of failure to file a state
income tax return were dismissed following the not-guilty verdict, Maine
Assistant Attorney General Gregg D. Bernstein said.
“What I can say is that after a review of
the case for which Ms. Harriman was found not guilty, the state has
found it appropriate to dismiss the tax indictment,” Bernstein said.
The tax indictment had accused Harriman of
falsely underreporting her income, which included money paid to her by
her uncle, between 2011 and 2016, according to the indictment. The court
paperwork does not specify exactly how much that was.
Harriman’s attorney, Mary Gray, said the dismissal is “a huge relief” to Harriman.
“This has been very stressful for her, and
it’s something that she is very pleased at the outcome. We all were.
It’s a huge relief for her to have it go this way,” Gray said.
Harriman was acting as an unpaid caregiver
to Trenton resident and retired state worker Richard Royal, the husband
of her mother’s late sister, when she was accused in 2016 of stealing
$213,000 from Royal, a U.S. Navy veteran.
Prosecutors alleged Harriman convinced
Royal, who was suffering from dementia, to cash a $150,000 life
insurance policy, minus a $37,000 penalty, and wrote herself a $100,000
check from the victim’s bank account. Harriman’s attorney said that she
got a portion of an estate worth $1.1 million as thanks and payment for
slightly less than three years of work.
Before his death in July 2017, the
85-year-old Royal told state investigators that he had no memory of
giving Harriman money, but that he would have if she’d asked, because he
thought highly of her.
Full Article & Source:
Tax evasion charges dropped against Mariaville woman cleared of bilking uncle
1 comment:
A jury decided she was innocent? It's hard to believe judging by this article. But, I wasn't in the courtroom so maybe they're right?
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