Former DHS Employee Pleads Guilty

A former Department of Human Services employee pleaded guilty Monday to two Tulsa County felony charges of financially exploiting vulnerable adults.

Debra Roberts, 51, is set to be sentenced Dec. 21.

She waived her right to a jury trial, and has no agreement with prosecutors to govern punishment.

Associate District Judge Dana Kuehn withheld any finding of guilt, and allowed Roberts to remain free on bond while she awaits sentencing in cases that were filed in 2008.

Roberts, who was a DHS Adult Protective Services specialist, was charged in one case with taking nearly $4,500 that belonged to an 84-year-old man.

She had been a temporary guardian for the man, after a court decided that he lacked the mental capacity to consent to necessary protective services.

In her capacity as guardian, Roberts had the authority to use his money to pay for residential care and daily living expenses, according to an investigator’s affidavit.

Prosecutors maintain that nursing home bills went unpaid and that checks signed by Roberts on the man’s guardian account were written for cash.

In another case, Roberts was charged with financially exploiting a 74-year-old mentally disabled man by converting about $5,900 of his money to her own use. She previously was his temporary guardian.

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Former DHS Employee Pleads Guilty in Tulsa