Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Ex-Norton man sent to prison for bilking elderly father

Anthony Schmitka
NORTON — A former Norton man has been sentenced to serve up to three years in prison for bilking his elderly father out of more than $110,000 in veterans benefits checks, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said Monday.

Anthony Schmitka, 58, was sentenced in Fall River Superior Court after pleading guilty Friday to two counts of larceny from a person older than 60, Quinn said.

Under the sentence handed down by Judge Renee Dupuis, Schmitka must serve at least 27 months in prison.

Schmitka was charged in 2014 in Attleboro District Court but fled on the day of his trial in March 2016. He spent the next three years as a fugitive from justice until his arrest March 6, soon after Quinn unveiled the Bristol County Most Wanted Fugitive List and website to field tips on wanted individuals.

Schmitka was one of the first fugitives highlighted during a news conference with state police and local police chiefs. He was tracked down and apprehended in Woodstock, Vt. by U.S. marshals after Norton police got a tip about his whereabouts.

In February 2013, Schmitka’s father, who is a U.S. military veteran, received a retroactive benefits check for more than $110,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Over the course of a year, the defendant stole the money and used a portion of it to play the lottery and gamble at a local casino, according to the district attorney’s office.

“I am very pleased the defendant was held accountable for stealing more than $100,000 from his elderly father,” Quinn said in a statement. “Not only did the defendant betray his father’s trust, he defaulted from court and fled to Vermont, where he lived off of government assistance.

“The money that he stole was from the Department of Veterans Affairs and was based on the victim’s military service, which makes the defendant’s conduct particularly ‘unconscionable.’”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Scott, the chief of Quinn’s Financial Crimes Unit.

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Ex-Norton man sent to prison for bilking elderly father

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