Stark County worker accused of stealing $550K, two cars from great aunt

by Robert Wang

A Stark County Auditor's Office supervisor who oversees the testing of gas pumps and supermarket scales is accused of stealing more than $550,000 and two vehicles from his great aunt.

Nicholas J. Owens, 44, of North Canton, who works in the county Auditor's Office, is charged with theft from a person in a protected class, securing writings by deception, misuse of credit cards and two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, all felonies.

He was taken into custody Tuesday by the North Canton Police Department and spent Wednesday and the Fourth of July holiday in the Stark County Jail.

He made an initial appearance in Canton Municipal Court on Friday.

According to court records, Owens waived his right to a preliminary hearing. So, Canton Municipal Judge Kristin Guardado bound the case over to a Stark County grand jury for its consideration.

Owens' wife posted 10% of his $100,000 bond, so Owens could be released from jail under supervision of the pre-trial release program. The judge ordered he have no contact with his great aunt.

What is Nicholas Owens accused of?

According to criminal complaints filed by a North Canton police detective and a police report said that Owens' great aunt lives in an assisted living facility a few miles outside North Canton. She has dementia and Alzheimer's disease and had given Owens financial power of attorney over her assets. The complaints said that the great aunt is "unable to competently make decisions on her own."

His attorney Julie Jakmides said at the hearing Friday that Owens doesn't have power of attorney, but he does have at least one joint financial account with her.

Owens' other attorney, Jakmides' father, Jeff Jakmides said before Friday's hearing that his client would plead not guilty. And he asked the public to respect the presumption that his client is innocent.

One complaint accuses Owens of stealing about $550,000 from the woman.

"The defendant used the funds outside of the scope granted in the Power of Attorney, and not in a manner consistent with the principal's best interest," said complaint, which did not specify what Owens purchased with the money.

Another complaint said that Owens, while "deceiving his great aunt" transferred $3,000 from his great aunt's account to his own account. Then, Owens allegedly wrote a check in the amount of $3,000 from that account apparently in payment to buy a 2010 Toyota Camry from his great aunt.

Two complaints said that Owens drafted a document taking ownership of his great aunt's 1965 Ford Mustang, a car, police said, whose national average value is $42,500.

Police said Owens used his great aunt's credit card "for his own personal gain" outside the scope granted in the power of attorney during a 90-day period in amounts totaling at least $7,500 and less than $150,000.

The complaints said these acts took place from Sept. 1, 2020 to June 10, 2024.

On May 22, a great-niece and niece of the elderly woman reported to North Canton police that the woman's total Chase Bank account balances had declined from $215,733 in 2020 to $40,116 on April 30, according to a police report. The niece, who had obtained access to her aunt's bank statements, said they showed unusually large amounts being transferred, withdrawn to pay credit card bills or withdrawn to cover check payments. They claimed Owens had withdrawn $50,000 from his great aunt's 401-K retirement account linked to Chase Bank without consulting her or other family members, the police report said. And they told police they believed that Owens had his great aunt sign over ownership of the two vehicles to him without her understanding what she was signing.

The police report said the great niece provided "a document from the Stark County Probate Court, dated May 9, 2024, showing that (the great aunt) is no longer competent and able to make sound decisions."

A search of the online docket of the Stark County Probate Court does not indicate anyone has sought to have the court declare the great aunt incompetent and to appoint a guardian to manage her affairs on her behalf.

Owens not suspended from his county job

Owens is the division supervisor for the Stark County Auditor's Weights and Measures Department.

“The charges didn’t involve my office or his duties here and we’ll just continue to evaluate this as it unfolds," county Auditor Alan Harold said.

Harold suggested that for now, Owens once he posts bond to be released from the jail, could return to work and resume doing inspections and overseeing the four auditor's staffers who do inspections.

Owens supervises the Stark County Auditor's department that tests that the number of gallons on the displays of gas station gas pumps matches the actual number of gallons of fuel dispensed. Workers also go to supermarkets to test the accuracy of scales and price scanners. The department's inspectors also check the accuracy of scales at other businesses.

Harold declined to comment on the charges against Owens. He said when Owens was arrested it was not during one of Owens' inspections or while he was on work time. While Owens was scheduled to work Tuesday, Harold indicated he was between work assignments when police took him into custody.

North Canton Police Sgt. Matthew Buzzard confirmed that police officers asked Owens to come down to the police station Tuesday afternoon. They questioned him and then arrested him at the station.

Owens' wife, Melissa Owens, a North Canton council member who represents Ward 3, declined to comment.

Nicholas Owens worked as a weights and measures inspector for the Stark County Auditor's office from 1997 to 2008. He then was a part-time and then full-time elections preparations coordinator for about three years for the Stark County Board of Elections.

After Harold was first elected county auditor, he hired Nicholas Owens as his consumer protection coordinator in 2011. Owens has worked for him since.

Nicholas Owens ran unsuccessfully for Pike Township trustee in 2011. He later moved to North Canton. In March, he was re-elected to the Stark County Republican Central Committee as a precinct committee member for the precinct North Canton 3A.

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Stark County worker accused of stealing $550K, two cars from great aunt

Wood River woman charged with financial exploitation of elderly, disabled person

Wood River suspect accused of elder theft and forgery

By Scott Cousins

EDWARDSVILLE – A 57-year-old Wood River woman was charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person with a disability, a Class 1 felony; theft of property over $5,000 by deception from an elderly person, a Class 2 felony; and forgery, a Class 3 felony.

The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.

According to court documents, from about Oct. 14, 2023, to Dec. 9, 2023, the suspect took more than $5,000 in cash using a position of trust from an elderly, disabled person; and on Nov. 24 attempted to cash a check for $4,769.26 purportedly made out by the victim.

The suspect was ordered released from custody.

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Wood River woman charged with financial exploitation of elderly, disabled person

Attorney for a Top Florida Insurance Law Firm Disbarred After Forgeries, Misconduct

By William Rabb

A former attorney with one of Florida’s top insurance defense firms has been disbarred after the Bar said she engaged in repeated acts of neglect, deception and forgery.

Erika Lynn Muller, until recently a partner with the Cole, Scott & Kissane firm, based in Fort Lauderdale, can no longer practice in the state, the Florida Supreme Court said in an order last week. The court agreed with the Bar’s complaint and a referee’s recommendation that she be disbarred, following months of disciplinary proceedings.

The Bar’s complaint lists several issues, including lack of truthfulness, misconduct and lack of communication, and details one case in particular that unfolded in 2020 and 2021. In a slip-and-fall claim against Rooms To Go furniture company in Miami, Muller offered to settle the claim for $325,000, even though she was not authorized to do so, the Bar said.

She then sent the plaintiff’s attorney a photocopy of a check that she had allegedly fabricated. The plaintiff’s lawyer filed motions to enforce the settlement, which resulted in a court judgment in March 2021 of $425,000, the complaint explains.

Despite garnishment actions against the law firm, the money never materialized. Muller then agreed to send $550,000 to stop the garnishments. She allegedly sent a photocopy of another fabricated cashier’s check, then said she would hand-deliver the check.

But on the day of the planned transfer, she falsely said she was in an automobile accident, the bar said.

Meanwhile, Muller told the furniture company and an adjuster for the insurance company that the case was still in mediation, the Bar said.

On April 7, 2021, Muller informed Cole, Scott & Kissane attorneys that she was resigning.

In an affidavit, “respondent acknowledged that she made misrepresentations to multiple parties and presented altered documents to plaintiff’s counsel,” the Bar’s complaint reads. “In her affidavit, respondent further stated that she was suffering from a mental health crisis during the time of the misconduct.”

Muller later failed to respond to any of the Bar’s inquiries into the matter. The Rooms To Go litigation, brought by an independent contractor who was injured at an RTG parking lot, was dismissed in June 2021.

A referee judge who reviewed the case against Muller agreed with the disbarment action.

“It is imperative that a clear and unmistakable message be sent that callous disregard for clients, the Florida Bar, and the attorney disciplinary process are serious infractions which may not be committed with impunity,” Judge James Martz II wrote in April of this year.

The state Supreme Court, which in recent years has often disagreed with referees’ recommendations, accepted it in this case and said the disbarment will be effective Sept. 25. Muller must also pay $1,315 to cover the Bar’s costs in investigating the case.

The case made headlines in Florida in 2021 and raised eyebrows around the legal community. Court records show that Muller was listed as an attorney on four cases before Florida’s 3^rd District Court of Appeals, including an insurance claim appeal that is still pending.

Muller is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and was a member of the Florida bar since 2008. The Cole, Scott & Kissane website notes that she focused on bad-faith litigation, personal injury defense, premises liability and insurance defense litigation. She and the law firm’s leadership could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

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Attorney for a Top Florida Insurance Law Firm Disbarred After Forgeries, Misconduct

Illinois Woman Arrested for Financial Exploitation of Disabled Person

A Franklin Grove woman was charged Wednesday with financially exploiting a disabled woman.

Dixon police arrested Tina M. Parks, 53, on two counts of financial exploitation of a disabled person, one instance ranging between $300 and $5,000 and the other for less than $300.

The felony charges carry sentences of 2 to 5 years and 1 to 3 years, respectively. The exploitation took place on March 30 and 31 when Parks, “standing in a position of trust or confidence ... knowingly and by deception or intimidation” used the disabled person’s assets, according to court documents.

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Franklin Grove Woman Arrested for Financial Exploitation of Disabled Person

Police looking for woman accused of stealing from elderly man

Lanique Elaine Pettus

A woman accused of stealing nearly $10,000 from an elderly man by falsifying his signature on checks and using his debit card to make rent and car payments is being sought by authorities, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office and court documents.

Lanique Elaine Pettus, 32, is wanted on one count of exploitation of an older person, 16 counts of forgery and six counts of fraudulent use of credit card; all felonies, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Henderson courthouse.

The 80-year-old man was victimized through “deception intimidation or undue influence” last year from Feb. 1 to March 31, according to the complaint.

The fraudulent checks were written for amounts ranging from $150 to $780, and the debit card was used for payments in the range of $268 to $888, totaling about $9,500, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors today released photos of Pettus allegedly cashing the fraudulent checks at valley banks.

It wasn’t immediately clear when the case was filed.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or crimestoppersofnv.com

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Police looking for woman accused of stealing from elderly man