Mother Joins Daughter in Jail for Stealing From Grandmother

The mother of a Pottstown-area convicted thief is about to join her daughter in jail after she too admitted to stealing from the same woman, an elderly Towamencin relative.

Sharon Speidel, 66, of Vineland, N.J., was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to three-to-12-months in the county jail, to be followed by six years’ probation, after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received in connection with using her 91-year-old mother’s credit cards to rack up $47,680 in fraudulent purchases while her mother was living at the Dock Woods Retirement Community in Towamencin between 2007 and 2009.

Judge Joseph A. Smyth ordered Speidel to report to jail April 1 to begin serving the sentence. Speidel, who is currently looking for a job to help pay restitution, is eligible for the jail’s work release program during her incarceration.

“It’s not simply about money. It’s about a violation of trust,” said Crocker, indicating the 91-year-old victim, who recently passed away, was a mother of 10 and grandmother of 26 who saved her money so she could live comfortably in a retirement community and not be a financial burden to her children.

“She was very family oriented and was a great mother. At the moment when the victim actually became dependent, and the roles reversed, that’s when the defendant took advantage,” Crocker added.

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Mother Joins Daughter in Jail for Stealing From Grandmother