Two men to stand trial for exploitation of woman in driveway repair job

NEOSHO, Mo. — A judge found probable cause at a preliminary hearing Monday to order two men bound over for trial on a charge that they bilked money for a driveway repair job out of an elderly woman.

Waylon B. Trusdale, 27, of Yukon, Oklahoma, and Brandon G. Swartz, 28, of rural Joplin, were ordered to stand trial in Newton County Circuit Court on a charge of financial exploitation of an elderly person. Associate Circuit Judge Gregory Stremel set their initial appearances in a trial division of the court for April 18.

The defendants are accused of cheating an 87-year-old woman out of $618 on a resurfacing of the driveway at her home in Newton County that they initially told her they would do for $32. A probable-cause affidavit alleges that they completed the job in an hour and 15 minutes, and told her she owed them $618.

The affidavit states that she told them she did not agree to pay that much. But they responded that they would get their money one way or another, and she wrote them a check that they cashed at her bank, the affidavit alleges.

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Two men to stand trial for exploitation of woman in driveway repair job