Union Co. Judge Executive Indicted on Public Corruption Charges

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Jody Jenkins earns a yearly salary of more than $80,000 as the elected judge executive of Union County. Now, he's alleged to have defrauded the very people who put him into office. A federal grand jury in Bowling Green indicted Jenkins Wednesday morning on four counts of honest services fraud, a statute that is typically applied to those accused of public corruption.

The four count indictment alleges Jenkins devised a scheme to deprive the citizens of the county of their right to honest and faithful services of the office of judge executive. Federal prosecutors allege Jenkins solicited and received approximately $20,000 in kickbacks during the purchase of several pieces of heavy equipment that was later tied to an elaborate theft ring.

The theft ring targeted heavy equipment like skid steers and mini-excavators across three states. Four men, Thomas Elpers, Andrew Elpers, Jordan Wedel and Jason Habermel, were all all federally indicted for their roles in the theft ring. All four men have pleaded guilty and are currently serving their sentences.

According to the now-public indictment, Jenkins took steps to hide, conceal and cover-up his actions, including directing that false and fraudulent invoices be submitted.

Eyewitness News has been investigating the county's purchase of the stolen equipment since early 2015.

According to purchasing records obtained by Eyewitness News, the Union County Fiscal Court purchased several pieces of equipment later tied to the theft ring, totaling more than $100,000. That equipment was seized by the FBI in late 2014.

As Eyewitness News has previously reported, the equipment the county purchased had numerous red flags including altered serial numbers. The equipment was also purchased for significantly below market value, sometimes more than $40,000 less than it would normally sell for.

Judge Jenkins previously told Eyewitness News that the equipment was purchased in good faith.

One of the four men indicted as part of the theft ring, 45-year-old Jason Habermel, made damaging statements against Judge Jenkins during his sentencing hearing earlier this year.

Under oath, Habermel stated Andrew Elpers set a price on the stolen equipment that was to be bought by the Union County Fiscal Court. The price was set at just below $20,000 at Judge Jenkins' direction, Habermel said. This was done to avoid triggering the state's model procurement law which requires government agencies to publicly bid out purchases that exceed $20,000, according to Habermel's testimony.

The county's business transactions with Habermel began in early 2014 and abruptly stopped six months later.

Habermel stated that he would take the checks signed by Judge Jenkins and cash them at a Planters Bank location in Union County. From there, Habermel stated he would take anywhere from $500 to $1500 from the proceeds as a 'brokerage fee.'

Habermel wasn't the only person taking a cut of the proceeds, according to his testimony.

While under oath, Habermel told the court that Judge Jenkins would ask for a 'cost of doing business' in Union County that would be anywhere from $2000 to $2500. Habermel's attorney later characterized these transactions as 'kick backs' for Judge Jenkins. Habermel would also implicate Union County Clerk Trey Peak and local businessman Steve Eckels. As Eyewitness News has previously reported, Eckels has often received preferential treatment in terms of being awarded county contracts.

"I would pay Mr. Eckels, Jody Jenkins' friend," Habermel testified. "He would also receive monetary compensation for doing business in Union County as well as Trey Peak who is a county official as well. That was brought forth to me by them, saying that, 'if we're going to do business with you (Habermel), this is just the cost of business."

Jenkins was not at his office when Eyewitness News tried to reach him for comment. A fiscal court staff member told Eyewitness News that Jenkins had not returned from an early morning appointment. Additionally, Jenkins did not return calls requesting comment.

Law enforcement sources said Jenkins has retained an attorney. However, the identity of Jenkins' attorney is unknown.

Jenkins will make his initial appearance in federal court later this month. If convicted, Jenkins could be sentenced to no less than 20 years in prison for each count, fined $1 million and serve a three year period of supervised release. Jenkins can remain as judge executive through the duration of his criminal case, according to state law. Jenkins can only be removed from office if he's convicted of a felony.

Click here for the official release from the US Attorney's Office.

Click here to read the indictment.

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Union Co. Judge Executive Indicted on Public Corruption Charges

Ponca Tribe Gets Grant To Battle Elder Abuse

NIOBRARA, Neb. — Andrea Rodriguez has seen tribal elders, held in great respect by the Native American culture, also subjected to abuse.

In that respect, elder abuse cuts across racial lines and knows no color.

Rodriguez has worked with a variety of cases as the domestic violence program coordinator for the Ponca Tribe. The tribe doesn’t have a reservation, but its service area includes Knox County, Nebraska.

“We’ve been seeing an average of about six cases of elder abuse a year, most of it for financial exploitation,” Rodriguez said.

“We’ve also seen emotional, physical, sexual and even spiritual abuse. The elders are a vulnerable population.”

The Ponca Tribe recently received a $17,148 Elder Abuse Innovation Grant Award. The non-renewable grant allows the tribe to address elder abuse throughout its 15-county service area in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.

“The grant allows us to serve Knox County and do more in the Niobrara area,” Rodriguez said. “This will be an expansion of our current services here (in Niobrara), and we have staff members based in Sioux City who are able to make visits.”

The Ponca Tribe’s grant is awarded through the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative (NIEJI) Innovation program. Tribes from around the United States submitted proposals.

NIEJI Innovation awarded funding to eight tribes from eight states to help them develop programs for their communities.

The tribal efforts will focus on two different areas of need, she said.

“It allows us to offer outreach and prevention work on elder abuse,” she said. “We can also develop a section of the Ponca tribal code that will better serve Native American elders. We hope to reach the under-served.”

The tribe intends to create greater awareness of abuse and neglect cases involving Native American elders, Rodriguez said. The tribe can also develop policy and a structure for reporting, investigating and intervening in those cases.

Elder abuse is just part of a wider problem, Rodriguez said. The grant will supplement work already under way with tribal domestic violence programs, she said.

“In 2016, our Domestic Violence Program served 262 Native American victims of abuse,” she said. “Of those, eight were elders.”

The awareness and outreach effort could discover undetected or unserved cases because of a lack of resources.

Rodriguez pointed to various types of abuse:

• Financial exploitation could consist of a family member or other person either directly taking or talking the elderly person into signing over resources. Those funds could include disability or retirement checks, savings or government funds such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

 “The persons might tell the elder that they’re going to deposit the check in the bank and will instead cash it and keep the money for themselves,” Rodriguez said.

• Emotional abuse may not show physical scars but can also inflict damage, Rodriguez said.

“Emotional abuse can consist of name calling or putting down someone or isolating them,” she said. “Isolation can mean family members or others are kept from coming to the elder’s home, or the elder is kept from making contact with others.”

Law enforcement or other authorities may be contacted to conduct a welfare check on the elderly person, she said. The police and courts may also be contacted in cases of stalking and harassment.

• In physical and sexual abuse cases, the criminal justice system can become involved and receive a victim impact statement. Two sexual abuse cases last year involved elderly victims, she said.

• Spiritual abuse may include the prevention of elderly persons from practicing their religious faith, Rodriguez said.

“We have Native Americans who are not allowed or who are prevented from attending powwows and other spiritual events,” she said. “There might be instances where someone has refused to let anybody talk to an elder about spiritual matters.”

The Ponca Tribe domestic violence programs offer services ranging from advocacy, transportation and legal action to counseling, medical care and other resources, Rodriguez said.

Sometimes, family members contact authorities with concerns about an elder’s well-being, Rodriguez said. In some cases, law enforcement or social workers are brought into the setting. Other times, the victim may need to relocate for safety reasons.

“We advise victims who are ready to leave, so they know the safe time to leave and what to take with them,” she said. “Also, we advise them who to contact and who not to contact.”

Under the NIEJI grant, the Ponca Tribe’s domestic violence program plans to expand its elderly outreach, Rodriguez said. Staff will make presentations at weekly congregate elder lunches, Circle of Elders monthly meetings and Northern Ponca Elders Council quarterly meetings.

In addition, the staff will host informational booths at tribal community dinners and create newsletter articles mailed to all Ponca elders.

The staff will also involve elders on what to include with the Tribal Elder Code. A code will be established to protect elders within the jurisdiction of the Ponca Tribe from abuse, exploitation and neglect.

Currently, the Community Response Teams meet monthly to discuss effective and accountable services for perpetrators and enhanced support for victims.

The newly-awarded grant will provide greatly-needed funds, Rodriguez said. The grant is administered through the University of North Dakota’s Center for Rural Health.

“The biggest challenge is funding for our programs and affordable housing for our victims,” she said.

The Ponca Tribe’s domestic violence program recently won the Nebraska State Advocate of the Year award, Rodriguez said. The staff will be recognized at a Sept. 20 ceremony in Lincoln.

“We are promoting our domestic violence program,” she said. “We take this (problem) seriously.”

Full Article & Source:
Ponca Tribe Gets Grant To Battle Elder Abuse

Lawsuit alleges fraud, elder financial abuse at Oakmont Senior Living

Oakmont of Villa Capri

Four senior citizens, including an 82-year-old Santa Rosa man, are suing a chain of residential care facilities founded by Sonoma County developer Bill Gallaher, accusing his company of fraudulent practices that allegedly deprived them of needed care and exposed them to risk of injury.

The lawsuit, filed this week against Oakmont Senior Living in Alameda County Superior Court, alleged residents were found on the ground, left to sit in their own waste and at least one suffered an unexplained injury at the company’s assisted living facilities.

Fees at the facilities — which ran as high as $10,000 a month per resident — were based on “budgets driven primarily by desired profit margins” rather than assessments of its residents’ individual needs, the suit claimed.

As a result, the suit said, Oakmont Senior Living facilities were understaffed and residents age 65 and older “run the continuing risk of not having their care needs met and of suffering frustration, pain, discomfort, humiliation and/or injury from inadequate care and supervision.”

Gallaher did not return telephone calls and emails over two days requesting comment through his company and his attorneys.

A spokeswoman said in an email sent Thursday night that Oakmont learned Wednesday the suit had been filed and the company had not been served with a copy.

“We understand similar lawsuits have been filed by the same law firm against other large California assisted living providers, including Brookdale Senior Living, Atria Senior Living and Aegis Living,” said Honey Lopez, spokeswoman for Oakmont Senior Living. “Once we have the opportunity to review the allegations, we will respond accordingly.”

The 43-page complaint did not specify the amount of financial damages it was seeking. If a judge certifies it as a class action case, the number of plaintiffs could expand to thousands and the potential penalties against Oakmont could be in millions of dollars, said Kathryn Stebner, a San Francisco attorney who filed the lawsuit with nine other attorneys.

Oakmont Senior Living, a privately held company based in Windsor and founded by Gallaher in 1997, operates 23 senior living facilities in California from Redding to San Diego, including four in Santa Rosa: Fountaingrove Lodge and Oakmont of The Terraces on Thomas Lake Harris Drive and Oakmont of Villa Capri and Oakmont of Varenna on Fountaingrove Parkway.

The lawsuit alleged that Oakmont violated the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, committed elder financial abuse and engaged in “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent” business practices.

Oakmont had a duty to disclose that resident care assessments were not used to set staffing budgets, creating safety risks for current and future residents who were described as “a vulnerable population,” the suit said.

The company “actively conceals from residents, prospective residents, and their family members the true facts about its corporate policy and practice of prioritizing profit over resident care,” it said.

Stebner said the lawsuit seeks to represent current and former residents of Oakmont facilities in California during the last four years, a class that may number as many as 4,000 people.

Gallaher, who started out as a custom home builder in the 1970s and built more than 480 homes in the Oakmont retirement community, has also constructed apartment complexes, office buildings and shopping centers, according to Oakmont Senior Living’s website.

Gallaher, 66, is also founder and board chairman of First Community Bank, a key early lender to Sonoma Clean Power, the county’s public power supplier.

In July, county supervisors approved the sale of 82 acres on Chanate Road to Gallaher, who plans to build housing on the site and pay up to $11.5 million for the land. A citizens’ group filed a lawsuit in August challenging the deal.

Gallaher and his son-in-law, Scott Flater, filed a libel lawsuit against The Press Democrat in January, alleging they were defamed in a series of stories about unprecedented campaign spending in last year’s Santa Rosa City Council election

Oakmont Senior Living was founded by Gallaher in 1997 and is owned and operated by his family, according to the company’s website. It has planned and developed more than 40 retirement communities in the western United States, including assisted living facilities that provide daily assistance to people who are unable to care for themselves. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities do not provide medical care.

Donald Lollock of Santa Rosa, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia, is one of four living plaintiffs who filed the suit against Oakmont. He resided at Oakmont of Villa Capri for three years and paid fees that reached an average of about $10,800 a month, the suit said.

In January 2016, only one caregiver was available in his unit for more than a dozen residents with dementia who needed assistance with feeding, walking, showering, using the toilet and other daily activities, the suit said.

Lollock’s wife, Kathy, frequently found her husband in “urine soaked pants” because he had not been taken to the toilet every two hours, as he needed, and sometimes found him with “feces crusted around his groin,” the suit said.

Lollock, who had trouble using a device to alert staff, was left alone and unsupervised for long periods of time, and his wife once found him on the floor, it said. In May 2016, he “had a broken rib that Oakmont could not explain,” the suit said.

In September 2016, his wife moved him to another facility.

Two of the other plaintiffs — Frank Pearson, 89, and Jo Ella Nashadka, 88 — are residents at Oakmont of Mariner Point in Alameda, and Jane Burton-Whitaker, 74, is a former resident of that facility. A fifth person, Abdulwafi Kahn, also a former resident of the Alameda facility, died at age 75 and is represented in the lawsuit by his daughter.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday. Stebner said she and other lawyers handling the complaint will gather information and seek class action certification in a matter of months or possibly a year. 

Full Article & Source:
Lawsuit alleges fraud, elder financial abuse at Oakmont Senior Living

THE REAL COST OF CAREGIVER EXHAUSTION

A new University of Michigan study suggests that tired family caregivers are associated with more frequent ER visits and higher overall health care costs for the person they care for. 

Emergency room staff call this 'Pop drop' - when medical staff sense that the real reason for the hospital visit is hope for an in-patient stay and respite for the family. 

That's a harsh and unfair judgement on caregivers. And to me, it's one that reveals the disconnect between health care systems and families. Caregivers are working way too many hours without oversight or relief and often, we are dangerously exhausted. 

There are laws against excessive overtime hours for truck drivers and health care workers. And those laws exist to protect employees as well as their potential victims should functional capacities on the job be compromised by severe exhaustion. But there are no laws against exceeding maximum overtime hours worked by family caregivers. So when we need a break because we know that errors will occur in our caring or we will suffer illness from fatigue, we take the only responsible action available: we bring our loved one to the ER.

It amazes me how little health care providers know about the daily life of caring, the tasks we perform and the daily waking hours that are required to do our job well. But the costs of sleep deprivation are high. In my family, our son requires frequent repositioning for pain, nighttime tube feeds and medications as well as seizure and apnea monitoring and management. In the 23 years we cared for him at home, we had a monitor which beeped if our son momentarily stopped breathing - that sound cue sent us running to his room to rub his cheek or tilt his chin down to reset respiration. 

The cost of so many sleepless nights in our family: many minor car accidents with dented fenders, medication errors, frequent bouts of crying, a short temper with my husband and daughter, diminished awareness of the world around me and other peoples' feelings, and almost worst of all - no laughter. Nothing is funny without sleep. 

This University of Michigan study found that the measurement of fatigue, which can result from both the strain of caregiving and poor sleep, was clearly associated with both higher rates of emergency department visits and higher overall health care costs. That's a very good reason to use this evidence to better support exhausted caregivers in the community.

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THE REAL COST OF CAREGIVER EXHAUSTION

Discover How to Reduce Your Risk, Restore Your Health, and Reverse the Effects of Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Imagine a world where Alzheimer’s is no longer a death sentence. That world is here now.

You’re invited …

Mark your calendar for September 21st, World Alzheimer’s Day, as your host Peggy Sarlin interviews 14 of the world’s leading experts in Alzheimer’s and dementia. Over the course of 12 days, you’ll meet all of them, AND they’ll tell you their most effective breakthroughs and discoveries during the groundbreaking FREE video event, Awakening from Alzheimer’s.

The same courageous dedication to science that wiped so many diseases from the face of the earth is finally putting an end to Alzheimer’s and dementia. Today, you have the opportunity to learn from the brilliant doctors listed on this page below, who will teach you and your family how to avoid the nightmare of facing down this disease.

This is something everyone needs to see. Our loved ones are dying because the majority of the medical establishment are misinformed. Tragically, they simply haven’t heard about all of the new and effective Alzheimer’s therapies – therapies shared in one place for the first time in the landmark video series, Awakening from Alzheimer’s.

Full Article, Video & Source:
Discover How to Reduce Your Risk, Restore Your Health, and Reverse the Effects of Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Documentary: Let Them Out! Episode 2

Source:
Let Them Out, Episode 2

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NASGA:  Documentaries

Victims want tough sentence for Las Vegas lawyer who stole millions

By Jeff German
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former clients of longtime estate lawyer Robert Graham say they hope he gets stiff punishment for stealing millions of dollars from trust funds he oversaw.

“I feel that he should spend the maximum time possible in prison,” said Sharona Dagani , a wheelchair-bound former Las Vegas woman who prosecutors say lost more than $513,000 in special needs funds Graham had managed.

Graham pleaded guilty Thursday to five felony counts, including theft and exploitation of vulnerable people, while admitting he stole more than $16 million from his clients over the years. He faces a prison term of 16 to 40 years and will be sentenced Jan. 11.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson described Graham, who once regularly promoted his law practice on television, as a “despicable, predatory thief, plain and simple.”

Dagani, 29, who was born with cerebral palsy, said she is having trouble paying for her caregivers and other necessities, including utilities, car insurance and repairs.

“There’s just not enough money to meet her special needs,” her mother, Joan Albstein, said. “We’re doing the best that we can, but it’s just scary that her future is unknown.”

Dagani, who lives in San Antonio, said she is desperately looking for donations to her online GoFundMe account. Since March, the fund has raised only about $3,000, and she has been forced to spend most of the money to cover her daily needs.

Victoria Pappalardo said Graham deserves to be behind bars for a long time.

Graham stole nearly $942,000 from a trust fund set up for Pappalardo’s grandchildren after their parents, Kenneth and Sheila Miller, died in a car crash outside Las Vegas. The fund was established with insurance money from the accident seven years ago.

Pappalardo and her husband, Tony, now have custody of the children — Micaela, 16, Noah , 12, and Madison, 8 — who live with them in Ontario, California. Their GoFundMe account has raised $6,600.

“We’re devastated,” Pappalardo said. “This money would have made all the difference in the world. They would have had the kind of life their parents would have given them.”

She said a 40-year prison sentence for Graham would send a strong message to other attorneys who might prey on their clients.

Left with nothing

Victims said they were disappointed to hear that they are are not likely to get much restitution.

Prosecutors hope to recover $16 million from Graham, but they said most of his assets are gone. Several victims also are pursuing money from Graham in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where he has acknowledged having $8.7 million in liabilities but only $438,000 in assets.

Las Vegas lawyer Bruce Gale, who lost more than $522,000 from the special needs trust of his late brother Matthew, said Graham’s crimes warrant the maximum sentence.

“That’s what he deserves at best,” Gale said. “He’s wreaked havoc with so many people’s lives.”

Valerie Weinberg agreed.

“It’s appalling what he did to people,” said Weinberg, who no longer can count on her share of the $575,000 estate of her stepmother, Lois Lee, as she heads into retirement. That money is gone.

Weinberg, a jazz singer who lives in Sacramento, said she’s glad that Graham admitted stealing the estate funds and will be punished for it. But she also thinks it might have been more satisfying to watch him “squirm in his seat” at trial.

“I don’t believe he has a conscience or soul,” she said. “I just wish him to suffer the way he made us suffer.”

Her sister, Caralinda Lee, a college professor who lives in San Francisco, added: “It’s just egregious what’s he’s done. It makes you lose faith in humanity. He’s a despicable human being.”

Graham’s guilty plea last week capped a dramatic legal saga that began when he abandoned his clients and shut down his Lawyers West office in Summerlin on Dec. 2.

In interviews with the Las Vegas Review-Journal after his indictment earlier this year, Dagani, Pappalardo, Weinberg and Lee described their frustration with Graham as they fought, sometimes desperately, to get him to turn over their funds in the years and final months before he closed his law practice.

Graham, who is at the Clark County Detention Center on $5 million bail, secretly funneled an average of $187,000 a month in client funds over the years to a special bank account to run his law practice and pay personal bills, grand jury transcripts show.

He used client funds to pay $244,000 in taxes and $700,000 a year in advertising. He also used the money to make thousands of dollars more in charitable donations to numerous organizations, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Boys Town of Nevada, the testimony shows.

Full Article & Source:
Victims want tough sentence for Las Vegas lawyer who stole millions

See Also:
Victims of indicted attorney Robert Graham suffer hardship

Las Vegas lawyer accused of stealing millions from clients arrested

Several Tampa Bay nursing homes without power after Hurricane Irma

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - A breaking situation in South Florida tonight is raising new concerns for people living in nursing homes.

Eight people are dead and dozens of others are still evacuating a Hollywood, Florida nursing home that lost power in the storm and struggled to have air conditioning for the last few days.

A tragic scene is what everyone wants to avoid. Patients had to be pulled out of a hot nursing home after others there died.

Unfortunately, there are still some nursing homes that don't have power in Tampa Bay and while all are required to have generators, they don't have to be able to provide air conditioning when the power is out.

It was a chaotic scene at a Hollywood nursing home this morning, as rescue workers weary from the hurricane scrambled to save 115 seniors from the heat.

Eight patients died of heat-related illnesses because their air conditioning never came back on after Hurricane Irma. They perished in the heat, even though there's a hospital just yards away.

“We're conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths that occurred,” said Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez.

In Tampa Bay, other nursing home residents baked in the heat.

Baytree Center in Palm Harbor lost power Sunday. The facility’s generator failed multiple times Monday, after the home plugged in small air conditioning units to try to cool it down.

The Palm Harbor Fire Department brought in portable air conditioners to cool patients until Duke Energy crews can restore power. The department said paramedics made four runs to the nursing home and transported multiple patients to local hospitals.

“Phone call after phone call of people wanting to come and help,” said volunteer Chris Thompson, who lives near the Bayshore Pointe Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Tampa.

Full Article & Source:
Several Tampa Bay nursing homes without power after Hurricane Irma

Editorial: Better care for the vulnerable

When it comes to caring for the most vulnerable elderly and mentally ill, Franklin County can take pride in the Guardianship Service Board. It has helped remake a system that once permitted shameful exploitation of wards into one of the state’s best.

A new agreement between the board and Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center demonstrates how its impact can grow even more.

The hospital plans to pay the board $65,000 to help secure guardians for patients who, because of dementia or mental illness, aren’t competent to make decisions about their care and have no one else to do so. Such patients — between 15 and 20 per year at OSU — have been stuck in the hospital for months.

The guardianship board was formed a few years ago through state law to serve as a “guardian of last resort.” The move came after a Dispatch series, “Unguarded,” revealed that several lawyers appointed as guardians had failed to provide proper care while charging exorbitant fees. Wards were robbed of their property, dignity and even their freedom.

Among the board’s first tasks was taking over guardianship of some of 400 wards assigned to lawyer Paul Kormanik. He’d pleaded guilty in August 2015 to four counts of stealing from wards, plus charges relating to taking taxpayers’ money and falsifying records; he committed suicide less than a month before he was to be sentenced.

Since the reforms began, the board has accepted a $25,000 gift from the Columbus Foundation to further its work. It also sought help from the Lawyer’s Fund for Client Protection, and it won more than $200,000 in restitution for 35 of Kormanik’s swindled wards.

The newest partnership with the Wexner Medical Center could lead to similar arrangements with other hospitals. Most important, it means fewer central Ohioans will be left alone and confused in a strange place with no one assigned and specially trained to look out for them.

Full Article & Source:
Editorial: Better care for the vulnerable