Sunday, October 10, 2021

Stillwater woman charged with exploiting elderly blind woman

By Patti Weaver

(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 35-year-old Stillwater woman, who was convicted of possessing heroin during two different traffic stops, has been accused of exploiting an elderly blind woman with whom she lived — by illegally obtaining her cell phone, bank card, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program card.
 
Stephanie Michelle Wisler, for whom an arrest warrant was issued last week, could be given as much as a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine if convicted of exploitation of an elderly person.
 
Stillwater Police Detective Richard Leport alleged in an affidavit that on March 9 another police officer received information from Adult Protective Services of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services that the victim had been exploited by Wisler, her caregiver.
 
Wisler had moved in the victim’s apartment to provide basic care for the blind woman — including cooking, cleaning, and paying bills, the affidavit alleged.
 
“Stephanie Wisler was to provide these services in exchange for her room and board,” with the victim, who was notified on Feb. 3 she was being evicted from her apartment for failing to pay the rent, the affidavit alleged.
 
“On Feb. 8, Stephanie Wisler left the apartment and took (the victim’s) cell phone, bank card, and an Oklahoma Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) card,” the affidavit alleged.
 
“On March 3, Stephanie Wisler returned to the apartment. (The victim) asked Stephanie Wisler to return her phone, bank card and SNAP card. Stephanie Wisler explained she left them in a friend’s car. Stephanie Wisler left the apartment,” the affidavit alleged.
 
 On March 5, DHS Adult Protective Services discovered that the victim was locked out of her apartment, and so moved her to a nursing home, the affidavit alleged.
 
On March 12, when Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy David Sloan arrested Wisler for having heroin as a passenger in a Cadillac in a traffic stop, she was found in possession of two debit cards in the victim’s name, the affidavit alleged.
 
Two months later, Wisler pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and syringes on March 12 of this year, and to possessing heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana on June 26 of last year along with used syringes; she was ordered to serve a total of 60 days in jail, along with paying $2,977 in court costs, records show.
 
In the exploitation case filed last week, the police detective obtained surveillance videos from a grocery store regarding Wisler’s fraudulent transactions with an image on a cell phone of the victim’s SNAP card for $9.94 at 8:37 pm on March 7 and for $33.96 eight minutes later, the affidavit alleged. The detective also obtained surveillance videos from a convenience store regarding Wisler’s fraudulent transactions with the victim’s SNAP card for $14.63 at 5:13 am on March 10 and for $5.17 at 9:19 pm on March 16, the affidavit alleged.
 
 When the detective spoke with the victim on July 12, she “told me she is legally blind,” and recalled that on Feb. 8, Wisler “left the apartment taking her cell phone, bank card, Oklahoma SNAP card, and Oklahoma DHS cash card,” the affidavit alleged.
 
Full Article & Source:

No comments: