Woman charged with theft remained the court-appointed guardian for dozens of vulnerable Nebraskans

Advocates say the case is evidence of “a systemic failure” to protect the 10,000-plus Nebraskans placed in guardianships or conservatorships. 

By Andrew Wegley 

Becky Stamp had already been ordered to repay clients for inflated fees that she took from their accounts when a judge signed a warrant for her arrest in early November.

A court-appointed guardian who managed the lives and finances of dozens of vulnerable Nebraskans across 18 counties, Stamp allegedly racked up more than $21,000 in charges at shops across York using an account belonging to a man deemed incapable of making his own financial decisions, according to court documents. She was arrested and charged with three felonies, including abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Some judges — who appoint and oversee guardians in Nebraska — moved quickly to suspend or revoke Stamp’s powers. Others ordered reviews of Stamp’s financial filings.

But more than a month after her arrest, Stamp remained the guardian for at least 25 vulnerable Nebraskans, maintaining her authority over their living arrangements, medical care and, in most cases, finances, according to a Flatwater Free Press review of court filings in 42 cases in which Stamp had been appointed.

Advocates say the case is further evidence of “a systemic failure” to protect the 10,000-plus Nebraskans who, often due to old age, disabilities or injuries, are deemed by judges to be unable to care for themselves and placed in guardianships or conservatorships.

“I think that Nebraska is in desperate need of a safety net of more oversight for guardians,” said Amy Miller, a staff attorney at the nonprofit advocacy group Disability Rights Nebraska, which first publicized Stamp’s alleged theft in December.

The full extent of Stamp’s alleged thefts remains unclear. A state official told the Supreme Court Commission on Guardianships and Conservatorships in November that when she was arrested, Stamp served as the guardian and/or Social Security payee — a separate federal designation giving Stamp access to her clients’ government benefits — in approximately 77 cases, according to meeting minutes provided by the judicial branch.

In a search warrant filed in York County, a State Patrol investigator accused Stamp of moving money from the bank accounts of four more Nebraskans. A spokesman for the patrol said the agency is looking for additional victims.

In at least one case, Stamp’s alleged financial abuse did not end when she was charged, according to court filings.

In Merrick County, a judge waived required credit and criminal history checks in October to appoint Stamp as the guardian for a 46-year-old man diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Then, in December, Stamp wrote an $810 check to herself from the man’s account, an attorney alleged in a court filing.

The 46-year-old told his attorney that Stamp cashed the check and kept $400 for herself Dec. 5 — nearly a month after her arrest and at least three weeks after courts had been notified of the charges against her, according to the filing and other public records.

“I suppose the reality is that it would be foolish for anyone in the position of facing a criminal charge to continue to act in a wrongful way,” Miller said. “But technically, she does still have the power of guardianship until that has been revoked by a judge.” 

Through her attorney, Stamp declined to comment.

Individual judges deferred to Corey Steel, the state court administrator. Steel said the judicial branch has “informal mechanisms” in place to immediately alert judges to potential issues “so the judge can determine what the next steps are.”

Steel declined to detail how the judiciary responded to Stamp’s case specifically, citing the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct. There is nothing in state law that requires a guardian’s removal in any case.

“A lot of it is judicial discretion on those individual cases, because each case and each example is vastly different,” Steel said. “And so it’s the judges that need to make the determination if they’re fit to be a guardian or not based on whatever allegations are being brought forward.”

‘I thought we had it tamed’

After a 2013 state audit revealed that a Bayard woman who had been assigned more than 600 guardianship cases had stolen thousands from her unknowing clients, Nebraska lawmakers overhauled the state’s guardianship system.

They established the Office of Public Guardian, meant to serve as a last resort for vulnerable Nebraskans who have no family able or willing to fill the role. The law’s passage made Nebraska the last state in the country to create a central office for guardianship.

The law barred public guardians within the office from taking on more than 20 cases at a time and required them to visit their clients once a month. But the law placed no such restrictions on private, for-profit guardians like Stamp. 

“It’s very sad,” said State Auditor Mike Foley, whose 2013 probe prompted the policy change. “I really thought that we had made great progress 10, 12 years ago — whenever it was when we addressed this problem. Because it was the Wild West back then. I thought we had it tamed. But obviously we didn’t.”

State law already mandated guardians undergo background checks and required regular reports on the well-being and finances of the vulnerable adults in their care. But those reports sometimes went unfilled, Foley noted back in 2013.  

In 2024, Disability Rights Nebraska raised similar concerns, warning in a report that county court staff lacked the resources to ensure guardians filed the required annual reports, much less review the documents for red flags.

The nonprofit furnished the report to the Supreme Court Commission on Guardianships and Conservatorships. Minutes from a November 2024 commission meeting said the report “highlights what this commission is working on to improve” and that the judicial branch is “really drilling down on some areas of the report that are internal system issues.”

Steel, the court administrator, said the commission proactively sought a change to state law the Legislature made last year authorizing the State Patrol to run national criminal history checks, rather than state-level checks, on those applying to serve as guardians in Nebraska.

“There is continued improvement that we need to do, and we take it serious,” he said.

State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington, who sponsored the 2025 law that nationalized criminal history checks, said she was looking into introducing legislation this year to limit caseloads for private guardians. But she cautioned that any attempts to fix the system’s shortcomings must weigh the risk of losing would-be guardians to overly burdensome paperwork requirements.

Ninety-five percent of guardians serving in Nebraska are unpaid and are often relatives or friends of the wards they are assigned to.

“I hope we do not have the kind of reaction we did the last time something really bad happened within this system, where then we have to sort of course correct over time,” she said.

Still, DeBoer acknowledged, the system “certainly didn’t work here.”

Stamp and her guardianship business — Stamped With Love LLC — now exist as Exhibit A for advocates and leaders arguing for further reform of the system.

Stamp was appointed the guardian in at least 14 new cases in 2025 — even as she was removed from others for failing to file financial reports or neglecting the Nebraskans she had been appointed to care for, according to court filings. She also faced lawsuits over unpaid debts.

Creditors sued Stamp and her husband three times in 2024. In April of that year, a debt collector filed suit in Lancaster County seeking $10,529 from the couple, who quickly repaid what they owed, according to court filings. Stamp’s alleged theft from the York man that led to her criminal charges began the same month.

In October 2024, a Red Willow County judge revoked Stamp’s guardianship in one case after the ward’s mother told the judge in a handwritten filing that Stamp had “almost zero communication” with her son in four months as his guardian.

In July 2025, judges in three counties terminated Stamp’s authority in a two-day span for failing to file annual financial reports or failing to appear at court hearings over the missing documents. Such reports are the only ones guardians in Nebraska are required to submit to state judges each year to account for their work. 

But in most cases, Stamp held onto her post.

One judge left Stamp’s guardianship in place until mid-December despite an annual financial report being 20 months overdue.

Another kept her authority intact after the 22-year-old she was appointed to care for penned a letter asking the judge for a new guardian.

“My current guardian doesn’t check up on me or talk to me,” the woman wrote. “She also doesn’t help me with anything.”

In another case, Stamp remained the guardian for a 55-year-old woman even after a judge ordered her to reimburse the woman $473 for fees and mileage she had overpaid to herself from the woman’s account.

The judge issued the order after auditing the annual form that required Stamp to detail a year’s worth of expenditures and explain why she should remain the woman’s guardian.

“So she gets the best care & nobody take advantage of her,” she wrote. 

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Woman charged with theft remained the court-appointed guardian for dozens of vulnerable Nebraskans 

Severely disabled Central NY woman was kept in hot, garbage-filled shed, troopers say

A 75-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025 after troopers say she kept a severely disabled woman confined in a swelteringly hot shed filled with garbage outside a Hastings home in July. Neighbors said they saw medics take the victim out of the brown shed.Finn Lincoln

By Darian Stevenson, Anne Hayes, Finn Lincoln 

Hastings, N.Y. — A 75-year-old Hastings woman was arrested Wednesday after troopers say she kept a severely disabled woman confined in a swelteringly hot shed filled with garbage outside a Hastings home this summer.

The 46-year-old victim, who was non-verbal and physically disabled, was confined in a shed where temperatures exceeded 100 degrees, Trooper Jennifer Jiron, a spokesperson for the State Police said Thursday in a news release.

The woman charged, Maria Y. Traub, is the victim’s mother, according to neighbors.

The victim was unable to sit up or hydrate on her own, had no access to water and was using a bucket as a toilet, Jiron said.

She was wearing the same soiled clothing for several days and was swarmed by flies.

The woman had multiple broken bones, Jiron said. She was severely dehydrated, lethargic and had multiple bruises on her body, investigators said in a criminal complaint filed in the town of Hastings.

The woman was discovered on July 29 when troopers responded to the home in the 1300 block of Route 11 in the town of Hastings for a welfare check.

A health care provider called 911, expressing concern that the victim was not receiving her medications, Jiron said. The nurse contacted police after a “concerning” call from Traub, according to the complaint.

When troopers arrived, they found the woman in a “highly distressed state,” Jiron said.

When emergency medical services arrived, Traub tried to refuse access to the victim, according to court papers.

Neighbors said they saw ambulance crews help the victim out of an old, brown shed. She was dirty and covered in injuries, they said.

The neighbors also said ambulances and police had previously been to Traub’s residence.

The day before the woman was found, troopers said Traub tried to drag the victim inside her home.

When Traub failed to drag the woman inside, she left her on a “concrete pad” outside the front of the home where she slept that night, according to the complaint.

The next day, Traub dragged the victim into the shed and neglected to provide necessary medical care, according to the complaint.

The woman was taken to Upstate University Hospital where she was found to be severely dehydrated and unable to walk. She remained hospitalized for several days and has since been placed in the care of a court-appointed guardian, Jiron said.

Traub was charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and first-degree reckless endangerment, both felonies, Jiron said.

Oswego County District Attorney Anthony DiMartino said that Traub had guardianship of the victim but was unaware of their relationship.

Traub was arraigned in Oswego County CAP Court and released on her own recognizance.

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Severely disabled Central NY woman was kept in hot, garbage-filled shed, troopers say 

Earlville man sentenced to 6 years in prison for stealing $1.2M from person with dementia

By Eric Schelkopf

July 28, 2025 at 6:00 am CDT

A former financial advisor has been sentenced in Kendall County to six years in prison after pleading guilty to financially exploiting an elderly client over several years.

Kendall County Judge Jody Gleason on July 22 handed down the sentence. In April, Bradley Goodbred, 57, formerly of Plano and whose residence is listed as Earlville, entered a blind plea to financial exploitation of an elderly person, which is a felony.

The matter then proceeded to a contested sentencing hearing in front of Gleason, according to a news release from Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis.

In 2022, Goodbred was charged with the theft of more than $1.2 million from an elderly client over eight years. According to the original federal court filing against Goodbred, the victim had dementia and was 97 at the time Goodbred was charged.

“The elderly can, at times, be one of the most vulnerable segments of society as they can feel helpless and ashamed in these types of crimes,” Weis said following the sentence. “Without the commitment of all agencies involved to the protection of the public, the victim of this crime would not have seen justice. The court in sentencing the defendant to prison sends a message that this type of conduct will not be tolerated in Kendall County.”

In January 2021, the court-appointed guardian of the victim reported to the Yorkville Police Department that Goodbred had been taking advantage of the elder victim over a period of time, Weis said in the release.

During the investigation into the case, Yorkville police learned that Goodbred had been a financial planner and advisor to the victim when he was working at LPL Financial. In June 2010, there was a financial power of attorney signed appointing Goodbred as the victim’s power of attorney, according to the release.

Goodbred had an additional company and persuaded the victim to “invest” in his company, according to the release. Through his employment as the victim’s financial advisor, Goodbred approved the request for monies to be withdrawn from her trust account, which were then placed into the victim’s checking account, according to the release.

From there, checks would be written to Goodbred’s company and Goodbred would then transfer those funds to his own personal account, Weis said in the release. None of the money that was transferred from the victim’s accounts was used for her benefit, he said.

The court remarked when handing down Goodbred’s six-year sentence that a term of probation would deprecate the seriousness of the offense, according to the release.

Goodbred‘s sentence will require him to serve one year of mandatory supervised release, formerly known as parole. 

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Earlville man sentenced to 6 years in prison for stealing $1.2M from person with dementia 

Chester County leaders dodge questions on Maisano’s record as guardian, expert witness, and bogus degrees

by Todd Shepherd

With one lone exception, Chester County’s top elected officials are refusing to comment on Treasurer Patricia Maisano, a woman who has twice faced credible accusations of financially exploiting elderly wards in her care while serving as a court-appointed guardian, according to a Broad + Liberty report published Monday.

Additionally, top officials in the county Democratic Party like Chairwoman Charlotte Valyo and Vice Chair Jerry Pyne also refused to offer any comment on Maisano’s past, including the fact that for years, Maisano has boasted of having a masters and doctorate degrees, but those degrees came from a diploma mill.

Only Republican County Commissioner Eric Roe acknowledged the report and the problems it conveyed.

“These allegations, if true, are really alarming. I hope Treasurer Maisano will address them publicly,” Roe said. “After all, the voters and taxpayers of Chester County have an important decision to make this November. Now more than ever, Chester County needs trustworthy elected officials who will look out for taxpayers.”

Democratic commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan, whose 6th Congressional District encompasses all of Chester County, also did not respond.

Maisano has for years worked as an expert witness in court cases, a role in which the expert can usually charge hourly fees similar to that of a licensed attorney. She has also been a guardian of elderly wards, a role in which she might have complete legal and financial power over an elderly person who has been deemed incapacitated by the courts.

The Broad + Liberty investigation published Monday uncovered two cases in which Maisano was accused of fleecing her wards while working under her corporate name, IKOR. In one of those instances, the accusation wasn’t from a family member, but from a court-appointed factfinder stemming from a dispute in a guardianship in Delaware.

“IKOR, for their part, egregiously overbills. There is no way to soften, sugar coat, or otherwise explain this finding,” the factfinder wrote. “[A] thorough review of twenty-one (21) IKOR invoices from February 2007 through November 2008 evidenced disturbing billing trends and tens of thousands of dollars in overbilled amounts.”

A second attorney was also appointed by the same court to double-check the efforts of the first factfinder, and this second review resulted in the same conclusions.

“I have to agree with [the first factfinder’s] assessment that IKOR engaged in a pattern of significant and systematic over billing [sic] in the instant matter such that the disabled person was egregiously overcharged for professional guardianship [of the property] services rendered to it by IKOR,” the second reviewer found.

The original factfinder recommended IKOR’s billings of $104,000 be cut by $46,987.86, a suggestion the second attorney ultimately agreed with.

Those new revelations came on top of previous reporting about Maisano’s controversial past.

In a December report, Broad + Liberty highlighted that Maisano had been excluded from court cases in which she was an expert witness because her expertise was questionable.

“Here, the Report [authored by Maisano] contains two and a half pages of vague and conclusory assertions that Plaintiff has PTSD, and that Defendant is the direct cause of this ailment,” a judge wrote in one of the cases. “Nowhere in the Report does Maisano explain the criteria that she used to diagnose or confirm that Plaintiff has PTSD, nor does she explain how she came to the opinion that Defendant was the direct cause of Plaintiff’s psychological ailments.”

In October 2021, Broad + Liberty reported that Maisano’s masters and doctorate degrees were from Sheffield State University, a known diploma mill. This outlet went as far as trying to verify if Maisano had ever attended the University of Sheffield — a real university — but a spokesman with the university said it could find no records of her. (Broad + Liberty provided the university with other surnames beyond Maisano.)

Additionally, Maisano has never refuted the idea that her graduate degrees are not legitimate, and has never responded to numerous requests for comment about the matter.

Currently, Maisano’s professional website, Varna LLC, advertises her as an expert witness on elder abuse. 

The website for Chester County Democrats, meanwhile, lists Maisano among its endorsed candidates for the upcoming local elections this November.

Commissioner Roe’s statement seems to allude to another scandal lurking in the background. Last October, the county prothonotary resigned under a cloud of suspicion regarding financial irregularities in her office. 

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Chester County leaders dodge questions on Maisano’s record as guardian, expert witness, and bogus degrees 

Power, profit, and guardianship: The fraught legacy of Chester County Treasurer Patricia Maisano

by Todd Shepherd

The incumbent treasurer of Chester County has twice been accused of fleecing elderly persons she was in charge of protecting during her career as a professional guardian. In another instance, attorneys she was working with in a guardianship accused her of nonpayment.

Those accusations, combined with previous Broad + Liberty reporting — revealing Patricia Maisano received her master’s and doctorate from a diploma mill, and that she was removed from court cases after failing to meet standards as an expert witness — raise serious questions about her integrity and fitness for office.

Maisano, once a Republican who later turned Democrat, was first elected as treasurer of Chester County in the fall of 2017. With the switch of her party affiliation already in hand by then, she belonged to a handful of Democrats swept into office that fall whose elections began to foreshadow the tidal shift in the Philadelphia suburbs away from a century of Republican dominance.

Her time as treasurer is uncontroversial. But it is her professional work that has left a trail of embittered and disillusioned people in her wake.

The case of Betty Winstanley

Elizabeth “Betty” Winstanley and her husband Robert, were well into their retirement years when they moved into an independent living facility in Lancaster County in 2008. But, their idyllic retirement came crashing down in 2014.

Betty, 92 at the time, was using a rolling walker one day and felt faint, and decided to sit on the floor until she felt restored. But she says staff at the facility claimed she had a fall, something that can trigger an avalanche of precautions. Close to the same time, Robert became ill and died that summer.

Because of the disputed “fall,” staff at the retirement home labeled her as a resident that could no longer live independently. After Robert’s passing, one of Betty’s two sons asked a court to appoint a guardian for her.

For the unfamiliar, an elderly guardianship “is a legal relationship created when a court appoints a person to care for an older adult. It happens when the adult can no longer care for themselves,” according to the website FindLaw.com. 

“Unfortunately, there may come a time when an elderly parent or loved one can no longer take care of themselves or make important decisions. Illness, injury, or aging can all change a person’s decision-making abilities,” the site explains.

Elderly guardianships are a necessary tool in society, but they’re also open to abuse. For example, in 2019, the Delaware County district attorney filed charges against three guardians with bilking over 100 seniors out of $1 million. One of the accused, Gloria Byars, took her own life on the day of her sentencing.

Betty’s struggle to free herself from guardianship was complicated by the fact that there was discord among her children. One son wanted Betty under the care of a guardian while two other siblings, a son and daughter, did not. Her first guardian was removed just over a year into his stewardship over Betty. When he was replaced, the court appointed Patricia Maisano as her guardian in December 2015.

Betty’s other son, David, who didn’t want her in a guardianship, says he vividly remembers that shift in power.

“My sister and I, my attorney from Philadelphia, [we] thought that it would be best that when [Maisano] was appointed the new guardian that we go and meet with her. So we went to her office in Pennsylvania and she was just very arrogant.” David recalled to Broad + Liberty. “She said, ‘From now on, I am your mother.’ That’s a quote. My sister can back that up as well.” 

The controversy caught the eye of journalist Diane Dimond, who chronicled the alleged overbilling.

“During the first three months guardian Maisano was in charge of Winstanley’s life, she billed $50,599.18 for services rendered,” Dimond wrote in her deeply researched and sourced book on guardianship, “We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong.”

Dimond highlighted some of the more eye-popping billings, “including two phone calls the guardian listed as having been made to one of Betty’s children to discuss ‘dates for [a] Christmas visit.’ For those two calls, the estate was charged a total of $1,560,” Dimond wrote.

“After Betty was rushed to the hospital with an unknown health problem, the guardian’s logs show that she made no calls to any Winstanley offspring to inform them of their mother’s setback. Three days later, the guardian noted making a couple of calls to Betty to see how she was doing. Maisano calculated that the time she devoted to those communications was worth $990,” Dimond also noted.

“Then there was a $1,000 bill incurred because, as Maisano noted, her ‘computer emails appear[ed] to be breached…[and] extensive work [was] done on my phone and computer as a result.’ The charge included time spent calling her IT department and a consulting attorney. There was no written explanation as to why Mrs. Winstanley should have been billed for technical or legal assistance on Maisano’s devices, which were surely used for more than just keeping track of her estate,” Dimond pointed out. 

David said he and his sister, who were hoping to move Betty to Maryland to be closer to them, felt powerless.

“[Maisano] called herself a guardian. She could make court testimony on mental capacity,” David told Broad + Liberty. “She had all kinds of supposed degrees. And my private eye that I had hired said that these were purchased, these were bought degrees. She didn’t attend universities to get any professional schooling such as neuropsychology or anything like that where she could accurately make a determination.”

In two years of reporting on her, Maisano has never responded to requests for comment from this outlet about her bogus masters and doctorate degrees. Efforts to verify her nursing degree, a degree that forms the very basis of all other elements of her career, have been inconclusive. Broad + Liberty raised other issues about the resume Maisano has published online. 

For example, she claims she has worked as a “national patient coordinator” at “Crossroads Head Injury Center” in Pittsburgh, but Broad + Liberty cannot find that any such center ever existed. In-depth internet searches as well as inquiries to a small number of long-time healthcare providers in that area have not turned up any evidence of a head injury center by that name.

As explosive as the findings about Maisano’s billing practices were, Dimond also had a personal experience so remarkable it’s still etched in her memory.

Dimond says Maisano tried to take away Winstanley’s phone in retaliation for talking to her, a reporter.

Then one day, she went to a court hearing for Winstanley in Lancaster County.

“I walked into that hearing as if I belonged. No one stopped me,” Dimond recalls. “I sat back in the upper back row and all of a sudden it became clear that Patricia Maisano realized I was there, and her attorney stood up and said to the court, ‘Your Honor, this person needs to leave. Diane Dimond is sitting there.’” 

Although only a single anecdote, it’s still a powerful representation of the difficulty elderly wards have in being able to recruit and use advocates while already being committed to the power of another person.

“There’s no reason to close this hearing,” Dimond recalls. “But nonetheless, I was kicked out. I was escorted out by a security guard and told never to come back again.” 

The Starr report

Maisano’s conduct in other guardianships has also raised red flags.

In 2007, Maisano became the court-appointed guardian of a disabled Delaware woman. Details of the case are limited because many of the relevant court documents are not accessible.

But a source who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation was able to provide two documents from the case: a fact-finding report by attorney Kristopher Starr, completed and submitted to the court in January, 2009, as well as a follow-up report that reviewed Starr’s work.

The “Starr report” is unsparing in its frank assessment against Maisano, who was operating under her corporate name, IKOR.

“IKOR, for their part, egregiously overbills. There is no way to soften, sugar coat, or otherwise explain this finding,” Starr wrote. “[A] thorough review of twenty-one (21) IKOR invoices from February 2007 through November 2008 evidenced disturbing billing trends and tens of thousands of dollars in overbilled amounts.”

A few pages later, Starr continued his prosecution of what he described as “disquieting” and “pervasive overbilling.”

“When data evidences that each phone call, whether a voice mail, a simple discussion, call to a creditor, etc., was at least 25 minutes per call, it becomes incumbent upon IKOR to justify such a rate,” Starr explained. 

“IKOR billed almost one hour for each letter sent. Check writing, and bill review was over 30 minutes per event. IKOR billed an average of 20 minutes to type an email. IKOR required an average of 21 minutes to put a fax in a machine, type in a number and hit ‘send,’” Starr continued.

In his conclusions, Starr said he concluded “that IKOR engaged in a pattern of significant and systematic overbilling…such that the disabled person was egregiously overcharged for professional guardianship services rendered by IKOR.”

He then recommended that the court “[r]educe IKOR’s outstanding bill, payable in the amount of $104,127.32 from [the disabled person’s] funds, by $46,987.86,” — a reduction of 45 percent.

“More troubling is that the overbilling is from a sophisticated and knowledgeable professional guardianship agency who regularly is appointed to cases by this Court,” Starr wrote.

Starr was not the only legal professional alarmed by what he saw from Maisano and IKOR.

Another attorney, Richard Kiger, was tasked with reviewing Starr’s work. Kiger used some of Maisano’s billing for sending faxes as an example.

“Ten faxes were sent,” he noted in one example. “It took IKOR 396 minutes, or 6.6 hours, to prepare a fax sheet from a template and to fax about 30 pieces of paper to nine creditors. The charge to [the ward] for all this comes to $462.00.”

“As one who has used a fax machine probably thousands of times by now, it is hard for me to believe that it takes more than a minute or two to fax a two page letter,” Kiger wrote later. “An estimate of 18 to 24 minutes to fax that letter is insulting as well as an arrogant grab at the funds of someone who in many cases will be powerless to protest and is fully dependent upon others for advocacy. The situation is that much more offensive when there is a print-out showing that the 18 or 24 minute procedure actually took 1 or 2 minutes.”

Fourteen pages into his analysis, Kiger said, “I have to agree with Mr. Starr’s assessment” that IKOR systematically overbilled, and he likewise recommended IKOR’s payment be cut by tens of thousands of dollars.

From the Kiger report, it’s also easy to infer that Maisano, acting as IKOR, filed a motion to strike the Starr report. That motion apparently claimed Starr was aiming to sabotage IKOR because the wife of one of Starr’s law partners also was a guardian, and eliminating Maisano would be good for the friend.

Kiger was not having it.

“The charges made in the motion to strike are very serious. If they do not amount to defamation, per se, they approach it. They are based on insinuation and supposition, but no scintilla of evidence has been presented that misconduct of any kind took place,” Kiger said.

“The kindest thing that can be said for the charges in the motion to strike is that they are churlish,” he concluded.

Attorney nonpayment

Another court document in a separate matter provided by a source requesting anonymity stems from a Philadelphia case.

In a filing from May, 2015, Maisano’s attorneys asked to be allowed to withdraw as her counsel in the guardianship of an older woman with a history of mental illness. Efforts to reach Gordon Wase, the filer of that document, for comment were unsuccessful

“Irreconcilable differences have arisen…and Wase & Wase has received no payments from any source over the course of the effort. Ms. Maisano and IKOR have failed to provide counsel with payment of their substantial legal bill now totaling $27,260,” the filing by the attorneys said.

“Ms. Maisano and IKOR have given counsel no explanations as to why they have not provided payments to Wase & Wase.”

Conclusions

Maisano did not return emails and text messages requesting comment for this article. When she was reached by phone by this reporter, she hung up. It’s unclear whether Maisano still works as a guardian. A 2017 article from PennLive said RiseMark Brands acquired IKOR in 2014, but it did not provide any information as to whether Maisano had any continuing role with the company. 

The perils of guardianship are not unknown. For example, in 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a bipartisan bill meant to curb the possibility of courts overrelying on guardianships to solve difficult personal or family situations. But there are doubts about the law’s effectiveness, and there is also an admitted shortage of guardians for courts to choose from, according to media reports.

Still, the 2019 indictments in Delaware County stand testament to the potential for financial abuse, if not outright embezzlement.

“They’re paying for vacations for themselves and their families at Hilton [Hotel], while these incapacitated wards are in nursing homes, alone, and their bills aren’t even being paid,” then-District Attorney Kat Copeland said.

Now, with her book complete, Dimond took off her reporting hat to give an unvarnished opinion on what she witnessed with her own eyes.

“I have, over the course of a decade, gathered so many abusive guardianship case stories, and to my mind, Patricia Maisano is the epitome of an out of control guardian who acts like a bully, overcharges her wards, and is so arrogant and haughty as to make me think she needs a completely different line of work,” Dimond told Broad + Liberty. 

“Her unprofessionalism, her arrogance in thinking that she is really the lord and master over a ward like Mrs. Winstanley — she can’t have a phone; people need to have permission to go and see her; she can’t leave the campus of the area where she lives; isolating her family members to certain specific hours that they can come and visit — this is bullying. This isn’t being the guardian angel that the public expects from a guardian, a court-appointed guardian. This is outright bullying for personal gain, in my opinion.”

The contrast between those accounts underscores the divide between Maisano’s critics and her political allies — and raises deeper questions about accountability in Pennsylvania’s guardianship system.

In a 2017 campaign video, Maisano referred to her work as a nurse and guardian before saying, “I know how to recognize and stop financial predators.”

Chester County Democrats renominated Maisano for her treasurer post in last month’s primary. Broad + Liberty approached the county Democratic leadership last year for reaction to the story that Maisano had been kicked out of court cases as an expert witness, but her party allies remained silent.

In a recent Facebook post, the Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women lauded Maisano as a “quiet force with a powerful impact. From flipping Chester County blue to mentoring countless candidates, Patricia leads with humility, heart, and unmatched determination. Her journey from survivor to trailblazer inspires us all.”

Where Dimond described Maisano as arrogant, the party described her as “humble.”

Not only does Maisano continue to receive the full backing of her party as Chester County’s treasurer, she gives speeches on elder abuse by guardians.

“March 5 Luncheon: Predatory Behavior,” the internet advertisement from the Charlotte Estate Planning Council said from 2019.

“This program will teach everyone in attendance the depth and breadth of this increasing issue.  How to recognize it, who are the potential predators, how to address it with your client.  There are also some ideas of what you can do to break the cycle and protect your client going forward.”

The featured speaker was Patricia Maisano. The corporate sponsor was IKOR.

(Editor’s note: At the height of IKOR’s influence, it sold elderly care franchises, at least two of which are still in operation in Pennsylvania today. Nothing in this article should be construed as negatively reflecting on those two entities, which appear to operate completely independently from Patricia Maisano. Broad + Liberty has no evidence of any kind of misconduct, alleged or otherwise, regarding those businesses.

About the documents in this report: Every effort has been made to withhold the names of persons in the documents who do not have direct bearing on the matter at hand. To that extent, names and other personally identifying information has been withheld, and some pages of the documents presented were completely deleted before publishing, but only if the pages had no relevance.) 

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Power, profit, and guardianship: The fraught legacy of Chester County Treasurer Patricia Maisano 

Minnesota re-examines guardianships: ‘They took away her rights’

Court-appointed guardians are calling the shots for a growing number of aging Minnesotans. The controversial role is in the spotlight as the legislative auditor’s office and a new task force look into changes.

By Jessie Van Berkel

For 50 years, Beverly and John Roland were inseparable. Then came the guardian.

During a long hospitalization for COVID-19, a judge decided a guardian should handle John’s decisions. She moved him to an assisted living facility hours from his wife, where his health rapidly deteriorated. In John’s final months of life, Beverly, who does not drive, struggled to piece together what was happening with her husband’s care. She spent late nights researching, “What can I do to get rid of a guardian?”

“I never knew anything like that could happen,” said Roland, 74, of Rochester. “It was a nightmare.”

A court-appointed guardian can take over an adult’s decision making if they are deemed unable to make responsible choices or meet their own basic needs. They provide a critical service for many vulnerable adults, but some families and advocates warn the powerful role can be overused, too restrictive and ripe for abuse. Guardians — often a family member or friend, other times strangers contracted to do the job — can decide where someone lives, what medical care they receive, even who they are allowed to see.

Minnesota is re-examining the system that guides nearly 35,000 lives and is growing with an aging population.  (Continue Reading)

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Minnesota re-examines guardianships: ‘They took away her rights’

Michigan man accused of embezzling from his grandfather

By Justine Lofton

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI – A Redford man is accused of stealing from his grandfather after becoming his court-appointed guardian, officials said.

Darius Nance, 33, of Redford, was arraigned Thursday in 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills on a charge of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult, $1,000 to $20,000, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.

“Court-appointed guardians are entrusted with the vital responsibility of protecting our most vulnerable citizens,” Nessel said. “My office will continue to hold accountable those who use guardianships to unlawfully enrich themselves.”  

Nance’s grandfather was admitted into the SKLD Bloomfield Hills nursing facility in October 2022, officials said. During February 2023, the Oakland County Probate Court appointed Nance to be his grandfather’s guardian.

It is alleged that Nance failed to make any payments to the nursing facility for his grandfather’s care after assuming guardianship, officials said. It is also alleged that Nance wrote numerous checks from his grandfather’s account, not for his grandfather’s needs but his own personal business dealings.

If convicted, Nance faces up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000 or three times the value of the money or property involved, whichever is greater.

Nance is due back in court on Sept. 3.

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Michigan man accused of embezzling from his grandfather

Former resident, families question care at Garretson nursing home

Several families are speaking up about their concerns for their loved ones in a Minnehaha County nursing home.

By Beth Warden

GARRETSON, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Several families are speaking up about their concerns for their loved ones in a Minnehaha County nursing home.

In her cozy apartment, a woman who wished to remain anonymous is grateful for every day she can wake up in her own bed.

When she had to move into a nursing home herself, she never dreamed how bad it would be. In 2021, she was placed at Palisade Healthcare Center in Garretson.

“I had a huge bedsore while I’d only been there for two weeks. It took a long time, of healing, a lot. It was horrible,” the woman recounted.

Meanwhile in Texas, her daughter, who also worked in a nursing home for 18 years, had concerns.

“She didn’t go there to get worse. She went there to get better,” the daughter expressed.

When learning of the bedsore, she called the state.

Her mother eventually recovered and never wants to see the inside of Palisade again.

“I just love life because I do remember how horrible my experience was. Horrible. It’s a miracle I actually got to come home,” the woman said.

Sheri Rokusek’s experience ended with a broken heart. She always had a soft spot for her brother Jerry Erhart.

“[He had a] political science degree, wanted to be a teacher, joined the National Guard. And unfortunately in his 30s, he began to show signs of schizophrenia.” Sheri explained.

While living in the Yankton Human Services Center with his health declining, a state-appointed guardian looked for a nursing home for Jerry. Last November there was an opening at Palisade.

“And I had concerns right away. I did bring those to her attention. And her answer was that she hadn’t had any problems with them,” Sheri recalled.

Sheri hoped to visit her brother in the spring, but that ended with a phone call.

“He passed away at 2:30 in the morning. And I didn’t get a call until almost 10:00 a.m.,” Sheri said.

That’s when the family learned for the first time, that Jerry had been in hospice and had never been notified.

“Hospice versus saying Garretson should have contacted us and Garretson is saying hospice should have contacted us,” Sheri recalled.

Our team spoke with Lordes Parker, the Executive Director at Palisade Healthcare, offering to interview her and any satisfied patients. We have not received a return call.

Parker said that all of the Department of Health’s reports on the home, like an 86-page list of deficiencies in 2021, are in a notebook on-site for all to review. The Department of Health said those reports are unavailable online.

The 2021 reports found health, safety and care deficiencies, such as bedsores, not properly clothing residents, staff not using proper hygiene, overdue fire sprinkler certifications, and undelivered mail.

If you have a loved one in need of nursing home care, these families offered advice from their experience.

“Have the care plan. Go over the care plan, you know, really get involved in their care. And if they know that you’re there for your loved one. They’re more likely to follow the rules and regulations,” the daughter said.

“If you are not getting the information you need, go find somebody that will give you the information. So you can have the opportunity to say goodbye to your loved one,” Sheri said.

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Former resident, families question care at Garretson nursing home

Wendy Williams under financial guardianship

 

ABC News contributor Brian Buckmire discusses Wendy Williams’ case under court-appointed financial guardianship after a judge deemed her incapacitated.

Source:
Wendy Williams under financial guardianship

Attorney and wife accused of exploiting vulnerable adults

By DAVE THOMPSON

Allegations of theft and misconduct against a local attorney now charged with exploitation stretch back at least 17 years, to before the earliest cases for which he was recently charged, court documents show.

Kenneth Anderson, of McCracken County, who has frequently been appointed as a guardian in cases of disabled persons, was indicted Friday on a total of 31 counts of stealing from and exploiting adults as far back as 2006.

But in a federal lawsuit filed in 2007 and dismissed on technical and jurisdictional grounds, a veteran argued Anderson stole tens of thousands of dollars from his military pension when Anderson served as the man’s guardian between 2002 and 2005.

Anderson and his wife, Gina Anderson, were both indicted Friday in McCracken County, on 25 counts of knowing exploitation of an adult of more than $300, five counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $10,000 and one count of theft by failure to make required disposition of property over $1,000 but less than $10,000.

The two are scheduled to appear Dec. 22 in McCracken County Circuit Court.

Kenneth Anderson also currently faces a criminal charge in Ballard County of abuse or neglect of an adult. A pretrial conference is scheduled in that case for March.

Among the initials and timeframes specified in the McCracken indictment, Anderson does not appear to be charged with the offenses alleged by Joe Browder, who filed the federal lawsuit against Anderson and others.

Browder, who was incarcerated at the time, alleged in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Paducah, that Anderson, while serving as payee for Browder’s accounts, had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from Browder and falsified paperwork to cover his tracks. Browder also claimed that he had been found incompetent and appointed a guardian wrongfully.

Browder alleged in the suit that Anderson stole more than $36,000 in 2005 alone, in part by misrepresenting property purchases and life insurance payments.

Browder claimed the thefts represented civil rights violations, as well as violations of state law, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Hate Crimes Act.

Browder claimed in the lawsuit that he first noticed a problem when his Veterans Affairs pension payments started coming sporadically to the Daviess County Detention Center.

A letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs filed as evidence in the case, which came in response to Browder’s request for a change in fiduciary, claims that Anderson “has performed his functions on your behalf in a proper manner,” and determined a change in fiduciary was not warranted. Browder claimed Anderson had given the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Kentucky Bar Association false information related to the complaint.

The lawsuit was dismissed due to the determination that Browder didn’t state a claim for which the court could grant relief.

Anderson in his voicemail message refers to himself as “public guardian for the Western District of Kentucky.” Statutes governing the appointment of conservators or guardians allow “any suitable person or any entity, public or private, capable of conducting an active guardianship or conservatorship program” to be appointed when a person has been declared disabled.

Though administrators are appointed by local courts, U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell said in his opinion ordering the lawsuit dismissed that most courts have “found that guardians are not state actors … because they are acting in the interests of an individual and not the state.”

Russell said the U.S. Constitution “does not apply to the conduct of private persons; it applies to conduct by the government.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit declined to hear Browder’s appeal.

The Office of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron investigated the McCracken criminal case, and is handling the prosecution.

Cameron’s office declined to comment on the investigation.

Anderson did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday. 

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Attorney and wife accused of exploiting vulnerable adults

Can a Probate Court Appoint a Guardian for a Person Who Already has a Medical Decision-Maker in Place?

Written by:  Warner Norcross + Judd

Under Michigan law, there are two alternate roles for making medical decisions for an incapacitated person. A patient advocate is a medical decision-maker who is appointed by an individual when planning for potential future incapacity. A guardian is a medical decision-maker who is appointed by the Probate Court for a currently incapacitated individual. In the case In re Guardianship of Tyler J. Newland, the Michigan Court of Appeals considered whether a Probate Court may appoint a guardian for an individual who already has a patient advocate in place. 2022 WL 16858981, Docket No 360274 (Mich Court App Nov 10 2022) (unpublished).

In Newland, Tyler was hospitalized following a psychiatric emergency. His sister, Kristen, was serving as his patient advocate under medical durable power of attorney. There was some friction between Kristen and the hospital staff, which led to the hospital filing a petition to appoint someone other than Kristen as guardian for Tyler. The Probate Court initially appointed a professional fiduciary as temporary guardian for Tyler. However, the temporary guardian and Kristen worked so well together that the temporary guardian petitioned the Probate Court to appoint Kristen as temporary co-guardian. At the hearing on appointment of a permanent guardian, the Probate Court granted the petition and appointed the professional fiduciary and Kristen as co-guardians for Tyler.

Tyler filed an appeal, arguing that the Probate Court erred in granting the guardianship petition, because he already had a patient advocate in place. The Michigan Court of Appeals disagreed, noting that under Michigan law, the existence of a patient advocate does not necessarily prevent the Probate Court from appointing a guardian. First, a Probate Court may appoint a guardian to exercise powers not granted to the patient advocate. MCL 700.5306(2). Under that scenario, the guardian and patient advocate would work side by side, each with its designated sphere of authority. Second, a Probate Court may appoint a guardian when the patient advocate “is not acting consistent with the ward’s best interests.” MCL 700.5306(5). Under that scenario, the guardian supplants the patient advocate.

Here, the hospital had alleged and offered witness testimony that a guardian was needed because Kristen, as patient advocate, was taking actions not in Tyler’s best interests. Of course, the Probate Court’s appointment of Kristen as temporary co-guardian and then permanent co-guardian undermines the notion that Kristen represented any kind of threat to Tyler’s well-being. Perhaps recognizing the incongruity present, the Court of Appeals emphasized that Kristen had admitted at the final hearing that guardianship for Tyler was necessary to serve his best interests.

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Can a Probate Court Appoint a Guardian for a Person Who Already has a Medical Decision-Maker in Place?

 

Interlochen man beats the odds on guardianship

By Mardi Link

INTERLOCHEN — Cruise control, 82 mph, cut to black, then a fleeting image of a good Samaritan who stopped to help and called 911.

Dwight Lewis remembers these scant details from March 2019, when he was driving on US-31 near Ludington, suffered an epileptic seizure and crashed his truck.

Twenty minutes, four broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a traumatic brain injury later, Lewis regained consciousness.

“I came to, I knew things weren’t right and I vaguely remember people coming up to my window with the Jaws of Life,” Lewis said. “Then nothing after that.”

Since the accident, Lewis has lived with his mother, Chris Lewis, in a house filled with art in the woods near Interlochen State Park.

When he smiles, the expression comes on quickly and envelopes his whole face.

A loud high-pitched “cuk-cuk-cuk” sound interrupts an interview with a reporter, Dwight stops mid-sentence, holding up an index finger.

“Pileated woodpecker,” he says, and there’s that smile.

The brain injury from the crash was actually Lewis’ second — multiple skull fractures in a 2011 skateboard accident not only caused the epilepsy, but put him into court-ordered guardianship — and working his way back to health and autonomy hasn’t been easy.

Lewis, 40, who’d trained as a chef, not only had to learn how to cook again, he had to re-learn how to drive, use a cell phone, handle his finances and get along with other people, including his mother.

“My injuries have caused me to burn some bridges between both my friends and my family,” Lewis says in a text, sent days after the interview. “My goal and mission now is to rebuild those bridges.”

Dwight moved in with Chris, and she became her son’s court-appointed guardian after the skateboard accident, but a few months after the highway crash, both agreed the arrangement was no longer working.

Traumatic brain injuries can result in something neurologists call “flooding,” in which a healing brain is overloaded by outside stimuli, making it physically impossible for a person to regulate their emotions and behavior.

“We argued a lot then,” Chris said. “He was often angry, which I understood, but it got to the point where we needed outside help.”

Court-appointed guardianships and conservatorships are a protective measure often associated with older adults, when a judge decides because of illness or memory loss, someone can no longer make their own decisions.

Younger people also can be appointed guardians by the court, often as the result of a catastrophic injury like Dwight’s.

Regardless of age or the reason for the guardianship, a review of probate court records by the Record-Eagle in more than a dozen Michigan counties shows court oversight often becomes permanent by default.

“Generally speaking, there’s an attitude that cognitive impairments don’t get better,” said Sheila Englehardt, a professional guardian in Roscommon County who is not connected to the Lewis case.

“Once someone is in the system,” Englehardt said, “it’s like this continuing rotation.”

Dwight committed himself to years of hard work — occupational, speech and ocular therapy, an in-patient stay at a neurorestorative program, months in a residential setting learning to live companionably alongside roommates, plus regular appointments with a psychiatrist.

“When he sets his mind to something, that’s it,” Chris said, “that’s Dwight.”

Earlier this month, his efforts paid off.

On Sept. 12, Dwight stepped off the “continuing rotation” of court oversight, after successfully petitioning Grand Traverse County Probate Court Judge Jennifer Whitten to terminate his guardianship.

Lee Storch of Guardian Services of Northwest Michigan, who succeeded Chris Lewis as Dwight’s guardian, told the judge she supported Dwight’s decision and helped him file the petition.

Both say Dwight’s abilities improved under guardianship.

“As skeptical as I was, it helped me and it helped my mom,” Dwight Lewis said of the time he spent as a ward of the court. “I do know that has not been everyone’s experience.”

Record-Eagle reporters in August 2021 began examining records in Michigan’s probate courts and have since reported a steady stream of worrisome accounts ranging from family isolation to outright theft.

These previous stories involved people of means and those on fixed incomes, people who live independently and those who require residential care, those with close family members and those without, but all had one thing in common: They began with a judicial decision meant to protect them by appointing a guardian or conservator.

Decades of reform attempts by governors, attorneys general and legislators have so far failed to alter the Michigan judiciary, which controls guardianship procedures and calls for probate courts to collect paperwork and keep records, but gives probate judges little enforcement power when things go awry.

Some familial and professional guardians in recent months have faced criminal charges after being accused of embezzling from clients.

In one recent case, a Macomb County woman, Lisa Ludy, was charged with nine felonies and could face up to 20 years in prison after being accused by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel of using Community Guardian Care, Inc., to conduct a criminal enterprise.

Nessel said in a press release that Ludy’s company was appointed guardian and conservator for an unnamed victim, then stole more than $100,000 from Social Security checks, an inheritance and proceeds from the sale of the victim’s home.

Thousands of guardians and conservators — acting as fiduciaries — serve in their roles without running afoul of the law. Professional guardians like Storch say it is hard to find qualified people, when guardians who serve those on Medicaid are paid less than $100 a month per client.

Storch said she is researching ways to turn her company into a nonprofit organization to seek alternative funding and have support from an advisory board.

“What we do is not all about the money,” Storch said.

Storch has more than 30 guardianship clients at any one time; she and her partner, Tracy McCain, provide limited and temporary services to as many as 50 others, she said.

Dwight is the only client she’s worked with who has “graduated” from guardianship, she said.

Once he began making — and keeping — medical appointments, working a part-time job at Oryana West, maintaining a good relationship with his mom and his girlfriend, and got his driver’s license reinstated, Storch said the court didn’t need to be involved in his life.

Dwight agreed.

“When all this started for me with the court, I had no hope,” Dwight said. “Then I began making some goals.”

Dwight said after the hearing, he and his girlfriend, Annette Abraham, went to Colorado for the weekend.

They toured Red Rocks amphitheater, where Dwight asked Annette to marry him.

She said yes.

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Interlochen man beats the odds on guardianship

54-year-old woman says she's fighting 'tooth and nail' to break free from guardianship

By Derrick Lewis

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A woman has been taken to an elderly memory care facility against her will and now cannot access tens of millions of dollars she has in her bank.

This all happened after she was given a guardian, a man she says she doesn't even know.

 

A judge says anyone in Texas can file for guardianship in the interest of a person's well-being.

After someone made this request, doctors tested Monique Mandell and considered her incompetent.

Her lawyers say she's not and want her home.

"I just want this nightmare to be over," Mandell said.

Freedom and nearly $40 million are on the line for her.

Her lawyers say a Harris County probate court allowed her guardian and three police officers to show up at her home and get her while she was sleeping.

 

The 54-year-old has been at an assisted living facility for four months now.

Randall Kallinen has been working on getting Mandel back home.

"There's no reason for her to have a guardian. According to experts, there's nothing wrong with her," he said. "She's competent."

However, a court-appointed psychiatrist considered Mandell incompetent shortly after an inheritance case related to the death of her husband.

"She's the golden egg that they've been looking for," said U.A. Lewis, another attorney for Mandell. "She has multi-millions available for them to try to exhaust, and the only way they can do that is if they maintain possession of her."

Her guardian is an attorney appointed by the court.

 

"They want to fight, I'll fight them," Mandell said. "Tooth and nail. I won't give up. What they are doing is wrong. I don't know these people from Adam."

Eyewitness News briefly spoke to the judge, Jason Cox, over the phone.

He would not talk specifically about this case, but said the court is not motivated by money in any way.

He added that the sole concern of the court is what's in the best interest for people like Mandell.

"We are challenging this judge to issue an order and stop laying on the request to send her home," Lewis said. 

 

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54-year-old woman says she's fighting 'tooth and nail' to break free from guardianship