WISE COUNTY, VA (WJHL) – A home health nurse pleaded guilty to
stealing from an elderly patient in southwest Virginia. Wendy Goad, 38
of Comfort, WV, pleaded guilty to charges Thursday in Wise County.
Those charges include grand larceny, credit card fraud, attempted credit card fraud, and credit card forgery.
Prosecutors say Goad was caring for an elderly woman back in July
when she stole several items and used the victim’s bank card to purchase
nearly $500 worth of merchandise for herself.
Goad is scheduled to be sentenced March 14.
The following is a new release from Wise County Commonwealth Attorney Chuck Slemp:
Wendy Goad, age 38 of Comfort, West Virginia, pleaded guilty on
Wednesday, January 10, 2018, in the Wise County Circuit Court, for Grand
Larceny, Credit Card Fraud, Attempted Credit Card Fraud, and Credit
Card Forgery. Her plea comes on the day she was scheduled to go to trial
on the charges.
Goad pleaded guilty without a plea agreement from prosecutors,
meaning a judge will determine her sentence after listening to the
testimony of witnesses for prosecutors and the defendant at a hearing.
On or about July 20, 2017, Wendy Goad was working as a substitute
home health care nurse in Wise County, Virginia. While working to care
for an elderly woman, Goad took two bags of items belonging to the
victim out of her house. Then she took the elderly victim to another
location and came back while the victim was not at her residence to
remove more items from the house.
The victim also gave Goad her bank card to buy six grocery
items. However, Goad used the card at multiple locations.
Specifically, Goad signed the victim’s name and got $495 of items at
WalMart. Goad later returned and attempted to use the card at WalMart
again, but this attempt failed.
This prosecution was successfully brought to a conclusion through the
efforts of Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp and assistant
Commonwealth’s Attorney Ken Lammers.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp said, “We continue our efforts to
protect seniors from abuse and financial exploitation crimes. It is
even more troubling in cases like this, when a nurse is being paid to
provide medical care for someone and violates that trust by exploiting
the vulnerability of an elderly victim.”
Full Article & Source:
Wise County home health nurse convicted of stealing from elderly woman
