A jury has convicted Shauna Michelle Brewster of one count of felony financial elder abuse and one felony count of elder abuse/neglect.
The crimes allegedly were committed over a year-and-a-half-long period against 75-year-old Glenhaven resident Lawrence Russell, for whom Brewster became private conservator in early 2003.
Russell had been previously conserved by a jury and found to be “unable to provide for his needs for physical health, food, clothing, shelter” and that he was “substantially unable to manage his financial resources or to resist fraud or undue influence.” The public guardian served as his conservator for a brief period of time before Brewster agreed to be his conservator.
The financial abuse came to light when Russell's medical bills, mortgage and other bills went unpaid. Russell's home had gone into foreclosure after payments were not made for seven months, and almost no money was left in Russell's checking account.
The elder abuse/neglect charge resulted from a series of events in which Russell was placed in situations that left his health endangered, including a situation where he sustained second- to third-degree burns on portions of his upper body. The burns were not treated properly and became infected.
Shauna Brewster will be sentenced on the elder abuse and neglect charges on Jan. 12, 2009. Brewster faces five years in prison.
Full Article and Source:
Jury convicts woman of financial elder abuse, neglect
The crimes allegedly were committed over a year-and-a-half-long period against 75-year-old Glenhaven resident Lawrence Russell, for whom Brewster became private conservator in early 2003.
Russell had been previously conserved by a jury and found to be “unable to provide for his needs for physical health, food, clothing, shelter” and that he was “substantially unable to manage his financial resources or to resist fraud or undue influence.” The public guardian served as his conservator for a brief period of time before Brewster agreed to be his conservator.
The financial abuse came to light when Russell's medical bills, mortgage and other bills went unpaid. Russell's home had gone into foreclosure after payments were not made for seven months, and almost no money was left in Russell's checking account.
The elder abuse/neglect charge resulted from a series of events in which Russell was placed in situations that left his health endangered, including a situation where he sustained second- to third-degree burns on portions of his upper body. The burns were not treated properly and became infected.
Shauna Brewster will be sentenced on the elder abuse and neglect charges on Jan. 12, 2009. Brewster faces five years in prison.
Full Article and Source:
Jury convicts woman of financial elder abuse, neglect
6 comments:
Anyone who abuses or steals from a vulnerable person should be convicted -- both the so called "professional" conservators and the unprofessionals.
I hope they throw the book at her!
OK, good. One down. Now let's hold all conservator thieves accountable!
Let's hope that she's on her way to the big house on Jan. 13th.
This demonstrates, once again, that the court system is totally lacking in monitoring and oversight.
Once-a-year reporting is a joke! Judges should not have discretion regarding bonding; it should become mandatory - including for lawyers and other "professionals."
This is not the first time she'd swindled some out off money. For years she cashed her missing daughters SSI disability checks, fraudulently took money from her son's trust account. When her son confronted her, the only excuse she had "I needed it more then you did"
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