Exploitation charges dropped against 50-year-old in Williston

WILLISTON, N.D. -- A judge on Tuesday dismissed a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult just before testimony was set to begin in the trial of a woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly woman she was helping to care for.

Prosecutors asked Northwest District Judge Paul Jacobson to dismiss the charge. Nathan Madden, assistant state’s attorney for Williams County, said July 17 that he had received new information Monday evening that made it impossible for the prosecution to continue its case against Sandra Steinberg. He said he couldn’t elaborate on what that information was.

Steinberg, 50, was charged in April 2017 with exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a class B felony. Police claimed that she wrote checks, made ATM withdrawals and took money from oil royalty checks she was supposed to deposit.

In a motion to dismiss the charge filed Tuesday in Northwest District Court, Madden gave only “prosecutorial discretion” as the reason for seeking to drop the charge. The motion asked to have the charge dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be re-filed.

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Exploitation charges dropped against 50-year-old in Williston