A 64-year-old former attorney who practiced in Vista before he was disbarred in July pled not guilty Monday to charges of embezzlement, grand theft and financial elder abuse for allegedly stealing settlements and retainer fees from clients.
David Gilbert Ronquillo faces five years and eight months in state prison if convicted, said Paul Levikow, spokesman for the district attorney's office. Ronquillo was being held Monday at the South Bay Detention Center in Chula Vista on $50,000 bail, said Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dort.
According to State Bar court documents, Ronquillo misappropriated about $125,000 from two clients.
In 2005, Ronquillo procured a $235,606 insurance settlement for a Canadian man who lost his wife and was himself injured in a 1999 Needles car accident, State Bar Judge Richard Platel said in his decision to inactivate the lawyer's bar membership. Ronquillo never paid the client his $115,066 portion of the settlement and instead used the money to run his practice, Platel found.
In 2007, a San Diego client gave Ronquillo a $10,000 retainer fee to defend him in a civil action, Platel said.
The suit was quickly dismissed, and Ronquillo, who only earned $1,000 in the case, never returned the $9,000 balance to his client, Platel said.
The State Bar had previously disciplined Ronquillo in 2004, suspending his membership for 30 days and placing him on probation for repeatedly issuing personal and business checks from his client's trust accounts, according to State Bar records.
Full Article and Source:
Disbarred Vista Lawyer Accused of Stealing Client's Settlement
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Caretaker Accused of Fraud, Trial Begins
Caretaker Sandra Gayle convinced a retired Springfield pathologist that Gayle and her family were the only ones she could trust — then took “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the woman, a prosecutor said. Tuesday.
Assistant state’s attorney Karen Tharp said in opening statements in Gayle’s trial on financial exploitation charges that Gayle, 65, “gifted” more than $300,000 from the 93-year-old doctor’s bank account to herself and her family members. Gayle also paid personal bills with the doctor’s money, Tharp said.
Defense attorney Jason Vincent said the evidence will show that Gayle, who began caring for the physician in January 2004, did everything on the up-and-up.
Vincent said the doctor had a financial adviser, an attorney and an accountant, and “Gayle would take her (the doctor) to their offices and lay everything out for them.”
“It was (the doctor’s) decision to do these giftings, not Sandra Gayle’s,” he said.
Gayle is accused of financial exploitation of the elderly and financial exploitation of a disabled person. She allegedly took money from the victim, who has no known heirs and assets of at least $2 million, between Nov. 24, 2004, and April 12, 2007. Gayle received free room and board at the woman’s house while drawing a salary of $1,344 a week.
Vincent said that amounted to little more than $8.50 an hour, considering that Gayle was on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
He said there was no gifting after the doctor was diagnosed with dementia in June 2007.
Full Article and Source:
Trial Begins for Caretaker Accused of Fraud
Assistant state’s attorney Karen Tharp said in opening statements in Gayle’s trial on financial exploitation charges that Gayle, 65, “gifted” more than $300,000 from the 93-year-old doctor’s bank account to herself and her family members. Gayle also paid personal bills with the doctor’s money, Tharp said.
Defense attorney Jason Vincent said the evidence will show that Gayle, who began caring for the physician in January 2004, did everything on the up-and-up.
Vincent said the doctor had a financial adviser, an attorney and an accountant, and “Gayle would take her (the doctor) to their offices and lay everything out for them.”
“It was (the doctor’s) decision to do these giftings, not Sandra Gayle’s,” he said.
Gayle is accused of financial exploitation of the elderly and financial exploitation of a disabled person. She allegedly took money from the victim, who has no known heirs and assets of at least $2 million, between Nov. 24, 2004, and April 12, 2007. Gayle received free room and board at the woman’s house while drawing a salary of $1,344 a week.
Vincent said that amounted to little more than $8.50 an hour, considering that Gayle was on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
He said there was no gifting after the doctor was diagnosed with dementia in June 2007.
Full Article and Source:
Trial Begins for Caretaker Accused of Fraud
Long Term Care Symposium
"It's more dangerous to be a home health aide than it is to be a coal miner(1)." Howard Gleckman, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, said that as he described the state of home health care in the U.S. at Genworth Financial's Fourth Annual Long Term Care Symposium on Monday, September 14, in Washington, D.C.
Genworth Financial's Long Term Care Symposium is held annually to discuss and evaluate public policy issues surrounding the state of long term care across the nation. As Congress addresses healthcare reform and its many components, this year's event emphasized the neeed for anational long term care strategy including funding, education and support for the caregiver. Additionally, the event served to highlight the viability of numerous legislative proposals in the support of caregivers aimed at helping to solve the nation's long term care challenges.
Part of the emotional strain facing many home care givers results from low wages paid for providing such services. According to Genworth's "A Workforce to Care for our Aging" 2008 white paper, 19% of home care aides and 16% of nursing home aides are compensated at a level insufficient for them to rise above the poverty line.
Full Press Release and Source:
Caregiving, Long Term Care Policy Proposal Bring Advocates Together
Genworth Financial's Long Term Care Symposium is held annually to discuss and evaluate public policy issues surrounding the state of long term care across the nation. As Congress addresses healthcare reform and its many components, this year's event emphasized the neeed for anational long term care strategy including funding, education and support for the caregiver. Additionally, the event served to highlight the viability of numerous legislative proposals in the support of caregivers aimed at helping to solve the nation's long term care challenges.
Part of the emotional strain facing many home care givers results from low wages paid for providing such services. According to Genworth's "A Workforce to Care for our Aging" 2008 white paper, 19% of home care aides and 16% of nursing home aides are compensated at a level insufficient for them to rise above the poverty line.
Full Press Release and Source:
Caregiving, Long Term Care Policy Proposal Bring Advocates Together
Nurse Who Stole From Medicaid Sentenced
A registered nurse has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay almost $135,000 in restitution to a home health agency for stealing from the Medicaid program, officials said.
Carol Lynn Glover pleaded guilty in May to one count of theft in connection with health care. Authorities said Glover worked for Nurses By Prescription Inc., a nursing service in Amarillo, and submitted false time sheets indicating she had provided care for a patient when she hadn't provided that level of care.
In addition to falsifying time sheets, officials said Glover also forged the signature of the patient's guardian.
Full Article and Source:
Nurse Who Stole From Medicaid Sentenced
Carol Lynn Glover pleaded guilty in May to one count of theft in connection with health care. Authorities said Glover worked for Nurses By Prescription Inc., a nursing service in Amarillo, and submitted false time sheets indicating she had provided care for a patient when she hadn't provided that level of care.
In addition to falsifying time sheets, officials said Glover also forged the signature of the patient's guardian.
Full Article and Source:
Nurse Who Stole From Medicaid Sentenced
Arrested and Charged
The Port Orange Police Department arrested a man Wednesday who they say swindled thousands of dollars from an 86-year-old.Investigators say Harold McBride solicited the 86-year-old victim for his lawn service approximately three months ago and bank records show he was able to obtain approximately $24,163.00 from the victim.
Full Article and Source:
Cops: Elderly Woman Bilked out of $24K
Friday, September 25, 2009
Group of 20 Fights Against Judicial Immunity for Conahan and Ciavarella
In a legal brief filed Tuesday, 20 legal scholars and former judges argued that granting former Luzerne County judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. judicial immunity from civil suits in the kids-for-cash scandal would make a "mockery" of a legal doctrine designed to protect judicial independence and integrity.Ciavarella and Conahan, accused of accepting $2.8 million in kickbacks for sending juveniles to two for-profit detention centers, have claimed judicial immunity in civil-rights suits filed by hundreds of those juveniles in U.S. District Court.
The former judges claim they cannot be held liable because the legal doctrine of judicial immunity protects them from civil suits stemming from their official actions.
But in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Tuesday, 20 legal scholars and former judges argue judicial immunity was never intended to protect judges from claims stemming from allegedly criminal activity.
Friend of the Court Motion
Friend of the Court Brief
Conahan's Motion for Immunity
Ciavarella's Motion for Immunity
Full Aricle and Source:
Group of 20 Argues Against Immunity for Ciavarella, Conahan
See also:
Conahan Linked to 1990's Cocaine Probe
NASGA Member Attends Hearings
Jack Straw Gets 15 Years
A federal judge has handed a 15-year prison sentence to a Waterloo insurance agent convicted of fraud in the bilking of elderly clients.U.S. District Judge Linda Reade opted to go beyond the maximum recommended sentence when she sentenced Jack Straw on Tuesday.
Reade said sentencing guidelines didn't address the hardship Straw caused for his victims. The guidelines recommended a punishment in the neighborhood of eight to 10 years.
Straw was accused of bilking clients out of at least $1 million. He pleaded guilty in February to seven fraud and money laundering charges.
Full Article and Source:
Man Gets 15 Years For Bilking Elderly
See also:
Attorney Asking for Leniency
Clancys Facing 30 Years
Joseph Clancy called Eloise Mudway "the old bitch."
Cynthia Clancy told a co-worker not to bother calling 911 if Mudway should fall ill.
"Just let her die," she said, according to trial testimony.
The words stung the Clancys when a jury heard them in a courtroom last week, and the same words, no doubt, aided the jury in finding the couple guilty Monday of grand theft from a person over the age of 65.
The Clancys now face up to 30 years in prison when they return to court for sentencing Oct. 22.
Full Article and Source:
Pasco Couple Faces Up to 30 Years for Bilking Elderly Woman
See also:
Pasco County Couple Convicted of Stealing From Elderly Woman
Jury to Decide Tomorrow
Cynthia Clancy told a co-worker not to bother calling 911 if Mudway should fall ill.
"Just let her die," she said, according to trial testimony.
The words stung the Clancys when a jury heard them in a courtroom last week, and the same words, no doubt, aided the jury in finding the couple guilty Monday of grand theft from a person over the age of 65.
The Clancys now face up to 30 years in prison when they return to court for sentencing Oct. 22.
Full Article and Source:
Pasco Couple Faces Up to 30 Years for Bilking Elderly Woman
See also:
Pasco County Couple Convicted of Stealing From Elderly Woman
Jury to Decide Tomorrow
AZ: Calling All Lawyers
Economists are saying the recession is either ending or has already ended, but that is not yet evident in the waiting rooms of agencies that provide free legal services to people with low incomes.
Legal assistance agencies are working hard to help people in multiple ways, but they cannot adequately keep up with the demand. Their waiting rooms are now always full and often overflowing.
This is because the same economy that has wrought unprecedented foreclosures and double-digit unemployment has also rendered many attorneys, who in the recent past consistently donated many hours of free service, less able to do so.
Brian Wargo, a reporter for In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Las Vegas Sun, wrote last week about the scope of this problem. Among those he interviewed was Lynn Etkins, a director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.
“It is overwhelming,” Etkins told Wargo, “Our lobby is filled with clients ranging from victims of domestic violence to people losing their homes and jobs.” Of the center’s staff, Etkins said, “We are swamped and everybody has a maximum caseload. We do not see any letup with the economic crisis so far as clients are concerned.”
Full Article and Source:
Calling All Lawyers
Legal assistance agencies are working hard to help people in multiple ways, but they cannot adequately keep up with the demand. Their waiting rooms are now always full and often overflowing.
This is because the same economy that has wrought unprecedented foreclosures and double-digit unemployment has also rendered many attorneys, who in the recent past consistently donated many hours of free service, less able to do so.
Brian Wargo, a reporter for In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Las Vegas Sun, wrote last week about the scope of this problem. Among those he interviewed was Lynn Etkins, a director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.
“It is overwhelming,” Etkins told Wargo, “Our lobby is filled with clients ranging from victims of domestic violence to people losing their homes and jobs.” Of the center’s staff, Etkins said, “We are swamped and everybody has a maximum caseload. We do not see any letup with the economic crisis so far as clients are concerned.”
Full Article and Source:
Calling All Lawyers
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Editorial: Stanford Fraud and the Florida Bar
One thing has become increasingly clear as a result of the Miami Herald’s ongoing investigation into the Stanford Fraud: Allen Stanford would not have succeeded in bilking investors out of billions of dollars without the collaboration of certain members of the Florida bar working under the auspices of the State of Florida and Florida’s “powerful” “politically connected” law firms. What the Texans could not be done in Texas was more than gladly performed in Florida.
The agreement between Mr. Stanford and the State of Florida that established a unique, heretofore unheard of foreign trust to launder money in Miami was so outrageous from the legal standpoint that several knowledgeable attorneys were left aghast by the alleged brazen evasion of the law and breach of ethics by their colleagues. The trust was called a Miami “bank” in order to obtain deposits from trusting Latin American investors. Bags of funds were shipped from Miami to Antigua as related documents were shredded. Regulators stood by, not noticing any “red flags” because they had been hogtied.
Full Article and Source:
Stanford Fraud and the Florida Bar
The agreement between Mr. Stanford and the State of Florida that established a unique, heretofore unheard of foreign trust to launder money in Miami was so outrageous from the legal standpoint that several knowledgeable attorneys were left aghast by the alleged brazen evasion of the law and breach of ethics by their colleagues. The trust was called a Miami “bank” in order to obtain deposits from trusting Latin American investors. Bags of funds were shipped from Miami to Antigua as related documents were shredded. Regulators stood by, not noticing any “red flags” because they had been hogtied.
Full Article and Source:
Stanford Fraud and the Florida Bar
Attorney Asking for Leniency
The attorney for a rogue insurance agent accused of bilking $1 million from his elderly clients is planning to ask the court for leniency.Jack Leonard Straw, 51, a former Dunkerton resident, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges, and his sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.
Prosecutors said Straw misused money he was given by elderly residents.
His attorney said Straw didn't lead a lavish lifestyle but lost control of his business and used some of the cash to pay earlier investors.
Defense Attorney Leslie Stokke told the court in motions filed last month that Straw should get a lighter than normal sentence because he accepted responsibility and assisted in the investigation.
He also said Straw's medical condition warrants special consideration and asked that Straw receive credit for time he served while undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
Stokke asked in court records that Straw be able to serve his time in a medical facility.
The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Berry, is fighting the request for leniency.
Full Aricle and Source:
Shaw's Fraud Sentencing Set
Cage Death Ruled an "Accident"
Less than a month after the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Arizona Department of Corrections inmate Marcia Powell's May 20 human cage death an "accident," ADC honcho Charles Ryan has fired three employees, forced the resignations of two others, and disciplined 11 more. This according to an ADC news release issued today.Specifically, the release states that Ryan "dismissed five employees, two of whom resigned in lieu of dismissal, demoted a captain to an officer and suspended another 10 employees" because of Powell's death from being left in a shadeless, waterless outdoor cage at Goodyear's Perryville Prison. Powell collapsed May 19 after at least four hours in the blazing Arizona sun. Ryan later made the decision to suspend her life support, even though Powell, 48, had been assigned a guardian by the court -- Maricopa County's Public Fiduciary.
Ryan's quoted in the release as saying of those disciplined, "These supervisors and officers to varying degrees failed to properly perform their duties." Left unsaid is any mention of the fact that Ryan ordered Powell's plug pulled before consultation with her guardian. Ryan has stated that he did not know Powell had a guardian at the time.
Should Ryan fall on his sword in this matter? After all, couldn't it be argued that Ryan failed to do his duty by not ensuring that Marcia Powell was treated safely and humanely during her 27-month stint in prison for prostitution?
Full Article and Source:
Marcia Powell Cage Death: Charles Ryan Fires Three,Disciplines Others, But When Will He Resign?
Cop Admits Theft From Elderly Neighbor
Gary police Sgt. Joshua Wiley admitted he stole money and a home from his former neighbor who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia and has agreed to repay $116,765 to the woman's estate.
On the day his jury trial was scheduled to begin, Wiley pleaded guilty Monday to two felony charges -- theft and exploitation of an endangered adult.
Under terms of the plea agreement, which Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell took under advisement, Wiley will be sentenced to eight years -- three years in the Lake County Community Correction Kimbrough Work Program and five years suspended and served on probation. The plea agreement calls for Wiley to serve his probation and Kimbrough Center sentence simultaneously.
Wiley, 51, also must pay $53,255 within 30 days and the remaining $62,765 in monthly installments of $1,000, also starting within 30 days.
Full Aricle and Source:
Gary Police Officer Says He Stole Home, Money of Helen Chentnik Who Suffered From Alzheimer's
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On the day his jury trial was scheduled to begin, Wiley pleaded guilty Monday to two felony charges -- theft and exploitation of an endangered adult.
Under terms of the plea agreement, which Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell took under advisement, Wiley will be sentenced to eight years -- three years in the Lake County Community Correction Kimbrough Work Program and five years suspended and served on probation. The plea agreement calls for Wiley to serve his probation and Kimbrough Center sentence simultaneously.
Wiley, 51, also must pay $53,255 within 30 days and the remaining $62,765 in monthly installments of $1,000, also starting within 30 days.
Full Aricle and Source:
Gary Police Officer Says He Stole Home, Money of Helen Chentnik Who Suffered From Alzheimer's
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Not a Typical Day in Court
It was a day in court like any other day, or was it?The Corning Leader’s John Zick and Star Gazette’s Ray Finger reported on the September 17, 2009 Gary Harvey hearing. A hearing that sees a county fighting desperately to hold onto Gary Harvey, though the reasons behind their desperation seems a bit unclear. This is a county, after all, that sought at one point to have Gary starved and dehydrated to death. Though the latter was eventually dismissed, a DNR was placed on him and so it remains.
Sara Harvey, Gary’s wife, has been likewise fighting desperately. She on the other hand has been fighting desperately to save Gary’s life and to get him released from the system prison and back home. Yet, the county attorney keeps trying to paint Sara as the threat and someone to protect Gary from. Interesting that the logic isn’t held up by the facts of the case.
John Zick (Print Edition of the Corning Leader – 9/18/09) reports:
“Shaw also accused the county, represented by Donald Thomson, of withholding documents, an allegation the county denies.
“Shaw is specifically seeking Gary Harvey’s medical records, but Thomson said under normal circumstances, a wife is not privileged to her husband’s records.
“‘Litigation changes everything.’ Shaw countered.”
Sara is trying to save her husband’s life. There is question about the care that Gary Harvey has been receiving. There are questions as to why a so-called ethics committee decided it was right and good to starve and dehydrate Gary to death. Thomson freely throws allegations out there claiming there is cause to protect Gary from Sara. And where is all the so-called proof that Thomson is relying upon? In the very records he refuses to share, conveniently under the HIPPA excuse.
HIPPA? The excuse of all excuses. And the biggest excuses are those who abuse the concept of HIPPA to promote their own agenda.
Sara Harvey is fighting desperately for her husband. Chemung County representatives are fighting desperately to keep Gary under their control for some reason. One sought to have Gary Harvey starved and dehydrated to death. The other fought to save his life.
Full Article and Source:
The Gary Harvey Case Where Obama's Non-Existent Death Panels Do Exist
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See also:
Wife Seeks Rights to Comatose Husband
The Brainwashing of an Unsuspecting People: Continuing to Deny Death Panels
Behind Closed Doors: The Gary Harvey Story
Follow Up: The Gary Harvey Story
Victory for Mudway
To Cynthia and Joseph Clancy, it wasn't enough to spend Eloise Mudway's savings, take her home and isolate the elderly widow from her friends.
Mudway didn't die fast enough for the couple, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis told jurors on Monday. He said Cynthia Clancy told Mudway's new caretakers: "If she gets ill, don't call EMS. Let her die."
After hearing a week's worth of testimony and deliberating an hour and a half, a jury convicted the Clancys on Monday afternoon of grand theft of a person aged 65 or older.
The verdict brought gasps from some of the Clancys' supporters in the courtroom. The couple — Joseph Clancy is 56, and Cynthia Clancy is 46 — could face up to 30 years in prison when they are sentenced Oct. 22.
Full Article and Source:
Pasco County Couple Convicted of Stealing From Elderly Woman
See also:
Jury to Decide Tomorrow
Mudway didn't die fast enough for the couple, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis told jurors on Monday. He said Cynthia Clancy told Mudway's new caretakers: "If she gets ill, don't call EMS. Let her die."
After hearing a week's worth of testimony and deliberating an hour and a half, a jury convicted the Clancys on Monday afternoon of grand theft of a person aged 65 or older.
The verdict brought gasps from some of the Clancys' supporters in the courtroom. The couple — Joseph Clancy is 56, and Cynthia Clancy is 46 — could face up to 30 years in prison when they are sentenced Oct. 22.
Full Article and Source:
Pasco County Couple Convicted of Stealing From Elderly Woman
See also:
Jury to Decide Tomorrow
Taxpayers Foot the Bill
While a district judge is on paid leave and awaiting the outcome of state misconduct charges, she will make a taxpayer-funded trip to Harrisburg for annual judge training, officials said.
This week, Lower Southampton District Judge Susan McEwen will attend classes at the Minor Judiciary Education Board. There, she and other district judges will be updated on matters including new case law, the motor vehicle code and landlord-tenant issues, said Charles A. Carey, deputy court administrator for Bucks County.
The accommodations at a hotel and meals are covered by the state, said Susan Davis, director of the Minor Education Judiciary Board.
The continuing education for district judges is mandatory each year, although McEwen has until May to take the courses, Davis said.
There's a chance McEwen could lose her job before then.
In late June, the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board charged her with allegedly doctoring her grandson's court documents and, in a separate incident, cursing at a police officer while serving as judge.
Six months are likely to pass before the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline decides McEwen's fate, Samuel Stretton, an attorney who has defended several judges over the years, said in July.
If found guilty, McEwen faces anything from no action from the court to a public scolding to permanent removal from the bench.
Full Article and Source:
Taxpayers to Foot the Bill for Embattled Judge's Training Trip
This week, Lower Southampton District Judge Susan McEwen will attend classes at the Minor Judiciary Education Board. There, she and other district judges will be updated on matters including new case law, the motor vehicle code and landlord-tenant issues, said Charles A. Carey, deputy court administrator for Bucks County.
The accommodations at a hotel and meals are covered by the state, said Susan Davis, director of the Minor Education Judiciary Board.
The continuing education for district judges is mandatory each year, although McEwen has until May to take the courses, Davis said.
There's a chance McEwen could lose her job before then.
In late June, the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board charged her with allegedly doctoring her grandson's court documents and, in a separate incident, cursing at a police officer while serving as judge.
Six months are likely to pass before the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline decides McEwen's fate, Samuel Stretton, an attorney who has defended several judges over the years, said in July.
If found guilty, McEwen faces anything from no action from the court to a public scolding to permanent removal from the bench.
Full Article and Source:
Taxpayers to Foot the Bill for Embattled Judge's Training Trip
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Fraud Vs. Exploitation
While the number of violent crimes in the U.S. is decreasing, financial crimes against the elderly are increasing as a result of the aging of the population and greater concentration of wealth among older people.Since 1990 I have investigated more than 1,000 cases of exploitation of the elderly during my former career as a detective with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. During this time I've realized that reports that address financial crimes against the elderly usually conflate two types of crimes, fraud and exploitation.
Fraud is based on deception, but exploitation of the elderly is a much subtler and much more often ignored crime. Justice Potter Stewart's famous definition of pornography applies equally to exploitation crimes: I may not be able to define it precisely but I know it when I see it.
Full Article and Source:
Financial Abuse: Fraud Vs Exploitation of the Elderly
Note: Joe Roubicek has investigated over a thousand exploitation crimes and provided training for universities and law enforcement agencies since 1992. He is the author of "Financial Abuse of the Elderly."
See also:Why Exploitation Crimes Are Misunderstood by Government and the Public
Guardian Abuse: Keeping It In The Family
The OPPAGA Report
The Immoralities of Jennifer Smith
Elderly Man Tackles Bank Robber
An elderly US bank customer tackled a would-be robber and then sat on him because he feared for his own wife's safety.
The incident at the Guardian Credit Union building in Milwaukee was captured from multiple angles on CCTV cameras, FOX News reports.
The customer held Smith on the ground until police arrived.
The man said he jumped on the suspect because he feared for the safety of his wife, who was standing in the queue.
Full Article, Source, and Video:
Elderly Man Tackles, Sits on Bank Robber
The incident at the Guardian Credit Union building in Milwaukee was captured from multiple angles on CCTV cameras, FOX News reports.
The customer held Smith on the ground until police arrived.
The man said he jumped on the suspect because he feared for the safety of his wife, who was standing in the queue.
Full Article, Source, and Video:
Elderly Man Tackles, Sits on Bank Robber
Monday, September 21, 2009
Conahan Linked to 1990's Cocaine Probe
During a drug trafficking trial 18 years ago, the mention of Michael Conahan’s name brought the proceedings to a halt.The terse instructions from U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik drew a sharp response from the federal prosecutor whose witness dropped the then-Hazleton district justice’s name shortly after taking the stand.
Huddling in the front of the courtroom so the jury could not hear them, Kosik, then-assistant U.S. Attorney Malachy Mannion and defense attorney Leonard Sands engaged in a testy discussion on how to proceed in the drug trafficking trial of Ronald Belletiere in Scranton.
According to a transcript of the testimony from April 9, 1991, Hazleton businessman Neal DeAngelo, called as a government witness, had just said he had been tipped by Conahan, “telling me that he had heard my brother’s name mentioned down in city hall there in reference to some drug activity that was going on and he just wanted to advise me of the name being mentioned.”
Full Article and Source:
Conahan Linked to 1990's Cocaine Probe
See also:
NASGA Member Attends Hearings
Silver Alert for Maine?
Backers of an alert system to help police and families find lost elders will push for legislation this winter.
Legislators, local police and advocates for Alzheimer's patients met Thursday at the Auburn police station to discuss creating a Silver Alert system for Maine. Modeled after the Amber Alert system that helps locate abducted children, a Silver Alert would help find disoriented elders who have wandered away from home.
"This problem occurs way more than people think," said Kathryn Pears, programs and public policy director for the Alzheimer's Association. Pears is helping to draft a bill to establish a statewide alert system. She hopes it will go before legislators in January.
Full Article and Source:
Police, Legislators Push for Elder Alert System
Legislators, local police and advocates for Alzheimer's patients met Thursday at the Auburn police station to discuss creating a Silver Alert system for Maine. Modeled after the Amber Alert system that helps locate abducted children, a Silver Alert would help find disoriented elders who have wandered away from home.
"This problem occurs way more than people think," said Kathryn Pears, programs and public policy director for the Alzheimer's Association. Pears is helping to draft a bill to establish a statewide alert system. She hopes it will go before legislators in January.
Full Article and Source:
Police, Legislators Push for Elder Alert System
Trying to Help Homeless Man
Friends of homeless man in Boone trying to find his real name so they can get help for him,Students remember him as the kind soul who sold his hand-illustrated poems on King Street and strummed a guitar.
He seemed to disappear last month, and people thought he had died. But he's a patient at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he was transferred from Watauga Medical Center after collapsing behind a building in Boone.
Some people remember Joshua Watauga as mentally ill with substance-abuse problems. They say he was becoming increasingly unstable.
Officials at the medical center said that patient privacy laws mean that they can't discuss Joshua Watauga, other than to confirm he's a patient there. He was listed in good condition yesterday.
But officials could discuss the hospital's policy guidelines.
"If a patient is deemed unable to make health-care choices we make every effort to identify a family member or friend who can apply for guardianship," hospital spokeswoman Bonnie Davis said. "We would certainly help make that effort possible."
It's a complex process requiring court approval. If no suitable guardian is approved, the hospital would pursue guardianship.
Ben Alexander-Eitzman, an ASU social-work professor who is an expert on issues affecting the homeless, said that one of the most difficult situations a hospital faces at discharge is what to do with a homeless person who has chronic medical needs.
Guardianship is a complicated process involving mental, legal and ethical decisions, he said.
Full Article and Source:
Who is Joshua Watauga?
Woman Charged With Forgery
A Plainview woman faces criminal charges for allegedly forging her grandfather's name on her student loan application and charging thousands of dollars on his credit card.
Jessica Jo Rinn, 34, is charged with one count of aggravated forgery, a felony. A summons has been issued for her to appear in Olmsted District Court Oct. 12.
According to the complaint, Rochester police were notified from Olmsted County adult protection staff concerning the possible financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Rinn's grandfather was diagnosed as suffering from dementia. He died last month.
The complaint alleges that Rinn made thousands of dollars of purchases using her grandfather's credit card from February through August 2006. In addition, she is accused of forging his name as a co-signer on an education loan application. The loan amount was for $21,992. The total outstanding debt is $28,379.
Full Article and Source:
Plainville Woman Charged With Forgery
Jessica Jo Rinn, 34, is charged with one count of aggravated forgery, a felony. A summons has been issued for her to appear in Olmsted District Court Oct. 12.
According to the complaint, Rochester police were notified from Olmsted County adult protection staff concerning the possible financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Rinn's grandfather was diagnosed as suffering from dementia. He died last month.
The complaint alleges that Rinn made thousands of dollars of purchases using her grandfather's credit card from February through August 2006. In addition, she is accused of forging his name as a co-signer on an education loan application. The loan amount was for $21,992. The total outstanding debt is $28,379.
Full Article and Source:
Plainville Woman Charged With Forgery
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Jury to Decide Tomorrow
Only a six-member jury separates Joseph and Cynthia Clancy from vindication or condemnation.
The local couple will find out Monday whether the panel that watched four days of trial testimony this week believes them to be thieves or simply two people who tried to help an elderly lady avoid financial ruin.
Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis wrapped up the state's case this morning, completing his portrayal of the Clancys as opportunists who took advantage of Eloise Mudway's age to steal her house and improve their financial status.
The Clancys still live in the house at 9510 Hilltop Drive, which Mudway purchased with her late husband in 1980.
Defense attorneys Dean Livermore and Mark Goettel completed their case later today, one that depicted the couple as benevolent caretakers who had Mudway's home transferred to Cynthia Clancy only to save it from foreclosure. Livermore and Goettel contend that Mudway, now 92, simply spent herself into financial ruin and had to be rescued.
The Clancys are each charged with one count of grand theft from a person over the age of 65, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Attorneys will give their closing arguments Monday morning before jurors begin deliberating.
They'll have plenty to consider.
Full Article and Source:
Jury to Decide Fate of Pasco Couple Accused of Bilking Woman
See also:
Elderly Woman Testifies in Pasco Grand Theft Case
Who's Right?
The local couple will find out Monday whether the panel that watched four days of trial testimony this week believes them to be thieves or simply two people who tried to help an elderly lady avoid financial ruin.
Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis wrapped up the state's case this morning, completing his portrayal of the Clancys as opportunists who took advantage of Eloise Mudway's age to steal her house and improve their financial status.
The Clancys still live in the house at 9510 Hilltop Drive, which Mudway purchased with her late husband in 1980.
Defense attorneys Dean Livermore and Mark Goettel completed their case later today, one that depicted the couple as benevolent caretakers who had Mudway's home transferred to Cynthia Clancy only to save it from foreclosure. Livermore and Goettel contend that Mudway, now 92, simply spent herself into financial ruin and had to be rescued.
The Clancys are each charged with one count of grand theft from a person over the age of 65, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Attorneys will give their closing arguments Monday morning before jurors begin deliberating.
They'll have plenty to consider.
Full Article and Source:
Jury to Decide Fate of Pasco Couple Accused of Bilking Woman
See also:
Elderly Woman Testifies in Pasco Grand Theft Case
Who's Right?
Supreme Court Suspends Judge
The Minnesota Supreme Court has chosen to discipline — but not fire — a judge who received a deep discount on his legal bills after steering cases to his own divorce attorney.
District Judge Timothy Blakely, who hears cases in Dakota and Goodhue counties, will be suspended from the bench for six months without pay, the state's highest court ruled in an opinion filed Thursday. Blakely earns more than $123,000 annually.
The suspension begins immediately. He also is publicly reprimanded as an attorney and cannot return to legal work until the suspension is over.
"In essence, he cannot practice law for six months, be it as a judge or as a lawyer," said Martin Cole, director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility.
The U.S. attorney's office opened a separate inquiry into whether Blakely's actions constituted mail fraud, but it is unclear if a federal grand jury was ever convened, said Doug Kelley, an attorney for the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards.
Full Article and Source:
Supreme Court Suspends Dakota County Judge for Six Months Without Pay
District Judge Timothy Blakely, who hears cases in Dakota and Goodhue counties, will be suspended from the bench for six months without pay, the state's highest court ruled in an opinion filed Thursday. Blakely earns more than $123,000 annually.
The suspension begins immediately. He also is publicly reprimanded as an attorney and cannot return to legal work until the suspension is over.
"In essence, he cannot practice law for six months, be it as a judge or as a lawyer," said Martin Cole, director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility.
The U.S. attorney's office opened a separate inquiry into whether Blakely's actions constituted mail fraud, but it is unclear if a federal grand jury was ever convened, said Doug Kelley, an attorney for the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards.
Full Article and Source:
Supreme Court Suspends Dakota County Judge for Six Months Without Pay
From a Nursing Home to Home
Walter Brown never wanted to live in a nursing home, but when he had a stroke two years ago, he saw little choice. Mr. Brown, 72, could not walk, use his left arm or transfer himself into his wheelchair.
“It was like being in jail,” Mr. Brown said on a recent afternoon. “In the nursing home you’ve got to do what they say when they say it, go to bed when they tell you, eat what they want you to eat. The food was terrible.”
But recently state workers helped Mr. Brown find a two-bedroom apartment in public housing here, which he shares with his daughter. “It just makes me more relaxed, more confident in myself,” he said, speaking with some difficulty, but with a broad smile. “More confident in the future.”
A growing number of states are reaching out to people like Mr. Brown, who have been in nursing homes for more than six months, aiming to disprove the notion that once people have settled into a nursing home, they will be there forever. Since 2007, Medicaid has teamed up with 29 states to finance such programs, enabling the low-income elderly and people with disabilities to receive many services in their own homes.
“Medicaid has had an institutional bias in favor of nursing homes,” even for people who do not need them, said Gene Coffey, a staff lawyer at the nonprofit National Senior Citizens Law Center. “Federal law requires states to provide nursing home services. They don’t have to provide home or community-based services.”
Full Article and Source:
Elderly Leave Nursing Homes for a Home
“It was like being in jail,” Mr. Brown said on a recent afternoon. “In the nursing home you’ve got to do what they say when they say it, go to bed when they tell you, eat what they want you to eat. The food was terrible.”
But recently state workers helped Mr. Brown find a two-bedroom apartment in public housing here, which he shares with his daughter. “It just makes me more relaxed, more confident in myself,” he said, speaking with some difficulty, but with a broad smile. “More confident in the future.”
A growing number of states are reaching out to people like Mr. Brown, who have been in nursing homes for more than six months, aiming to disprove the notion that once people have settled into a nursing home, they will be there forever. Since 2007, Medicaid has teamed up with 29 states to finance such programs, enabling the low-income elderly and people with disabilities to receive many services in their own homes. “Medicaid has had an institutional bias in favor of nursing homes,” even for people who do not need them, said Gene Coffey, a staff lawyer at the nonprofit National Senior Citizens Law Center. “Federal law requires states to provide nursing home services. They don’t have to provide home or community-based services.”
Full Article and Source:
Elderly Leave Nursing Homes for a Home
Prosecutors: Son Kept Astor in Squalor
The son of the late U.S. philanthropist Brooke Astor used his mother's dementia to enrich himself at the expense of her favorite charities, prosecutors said on Friday in the high-society trial.Anthony Marshall, Astor's 85-year-old son, was charged in 2007 with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and falsifying business reports tied to his handling of his mother's fortune, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions.
She died from pneumonia in August 2007 at the age of 105.
"It's just a never-ending history of lie after lie after lie by Mr. Marshall to get more of his mother's money," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann told the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan in closing arguments.
Full Article and Source:
Son Kept NY Socialite Astor in Squalor: Prosecutors
See also:
Winding Down of the Astor Trial
Creating Caring Communities for Seniors: Aging Well
Are you a caregiver or clinician who works with a vulnerable population?
Maybe you are a friend or caregiver who suspects someone that you care about is being abused or exploited.
NACOG's 18th Annual conference, being held Wednesday Sept. 30, in Flagstaff, is the perfect place for you to get answers to some questions you may have about abuse or exploitation in these complicated times. it will take place at the new High Country Conference Center on the campus of Northern Arizona University.
Full Article and Source:
Annual Conference for Senior Citizens Set for September 30
Maybe you are a friend or caregiver who suspects someone that you care about is being abused or exploited.
NACOG's 18th Annual conference, being held Wednesday Sept. 30, in Flagstaff, is the perfect place for you to get answers to some questions you may have about abuse or exploitation in these complicated times. it will take place at the new High Country Conference Center on the campus of Northern Arizona University.
Full Article and Source:
Annual Conference for Senior Citizens Set for September 30