Fraud Charges Reduced

On the day of her arrest, Sari Hope Axelrod was accused of participating in an elaborate scheme to defraud a legally blind, World War II Army veteran out of nearly $100,000.

On Monday, 13 months later, all but one of the felony charges Axelrod faced had been dropped. She pleaded guilty to grand theft and was sentenced to two years of probation.

Assistant State Attorney Mark Simpson has an explanation for why charges that initially seemed so egregious had mellowed over time.

"Figures of theft are difficult to prove," he said Monday, adding the total figure actually believed to have been stolen was nowhere near $100,000.

"Once the rumor got started, it takes on a life of its own," he explained of law enforcement's initial belief.

Axelrod met Philip Johnson, a retired school teacher, in late 2007 when she responded to his ad seeking a caregiver. She is now 54, and he is 93.

Within months, Axelrod introduced Johnson to two of her friends: James Lee Gavin, now 40, and Elizabeth Huggins, now 35. This pair drove Axelrod and Johnson to Georgia, where the caregiver and client were wed.

Soon afterwards, investigators were claiming that nearly $100,000 had been siphoned from Johnson's bank account through fraudulent means. They believed Johnson was involuntarily signing checks over to the others. They also alleged that Johnson's caregiver-turned-wife was withholding his medication and verbally abusing him.

In October 2008, Axelrod - then known as Sari Hope Johnson - was arrested on charges of exploitation of the elderly and disabled, organized fraud and grand theft. She initially was denied bail and spent five and a half months in jail awaiting resolution of her case. Her marriage was annulled.

Gavin and Huggins were charged with similar counts.

By Monday, all of Axelrod's counts had been dropped except for a third-degree grand theft charge, to which she pleaded guilty.

Her negotiated plea bargain with the state called for five years of probation, but the judge reduced it by half when Axelrod paid her share of restitution. He also withheld adjudication of guilt, which means this does not constitute a conviction on her record.

In the end, Axelrod was only required to pay back $5,200. Bank records show she earned about $17,000 between January and May 2008, when she served as Johnson's caregiver.

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Fraud Charges Reduced for Caregiver