Caregivers Want "Silver Alert"

Ask Elaine McDuffie what it felt like when her elderly mother went missing and she'll describe the same fear parents get when they've lost a small child.

"Your heart is beating hard. You feel it almost coming out of your chest. You're in a complete state of panic. ... All the bad things pop into your head," said McDuffie of Sleepy Hollow.

McDuffie cares for her mother, Iley Henry, 79, who has Alzheimer's disease. In the past three years, Henry wandered into the streets twice, once ending up in the White Plains Hospital emergency room after a woman walking a dog found her facedown on a grassy lawn.

Henry is safe and at home with her family now, but other incidents of people with dementia have ended in severe injury - frostbite, dehydration, stroke - or death.

Some of the cases have made headlines recently, including a 73-year-old Yonkers man who went missing for days and was found this week in midtown Manhattan.

With a significant rise in Alzheimer's diagnoses projected, local advocates are looking for tools to help find missing seniors before it's too late, including a system identical to one that helps find missing children.

Silver Alert, a copy of the Amber Alert system for missing children, would help police departments communicate with each other and residents in the community when a senior wanders.

The Rockland County Legislature on Tuesday unanimously approved a countywide Silver Alert program. Legislator Bob Jackson, D-Nanuet, proposed the bill after reviewing programs in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

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Caregivers Want Alert System for Eldely

Federal Charges Dropped

Prosecutors have dropped federal charges against a New Jersey flight attendant accused of bilking an elderly Midland woman out of more than $55,000 has been dismissed.

United States District Court Magistrate Charles E. Binder signed an order to dismiss the charges against Elan Saraf without prejudice, meaning U.S. attorneys can re-open the file.

The dismissal order said the government needs more time to gather evidence and decide whether prosecution is in the public’s best interest.

“The government’s ability to prosecute this case properly would be substantially impaired were it required to proceed to indictment or information within the 30-day period prescribed by the Speedy Trial Act,” said U.S. Attorney Terrence G. Berg.

Saraf, of Newark, was charged with one count of mail fraud.

U.S. Postal Service inspectors alleged the woman was tricked into believing she won a $1 million sweepstakes.

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Charges Dropped in Case Against Newark Man Accused of Swindling Midland Woman With Phony Sweepstakes

Safe Haven for the Abused Elderly

A nonprofit care group Tuesday opened the state’s first safe haven for elderly residents abused by family members, spouses and others.

The program — offered by Saint Elizabeth Community — is timely, say experts.

Last year, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence helped 315 abused seniors.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Deborah DeBare, executive director of the coalition. Many victims of elderly abuse go to the hospital for an injury, then return home without calling for help.

Saint Elizabeth Community will house 20 people a year in rooms and apartments in its nursing homes and assisted-living complexes in East Greenwich, Bristol and Providence, said president and chief executive officer Steven J. Horowitz.

“Sadly ... elder abuse is on the rise in the United States and here in Rhode Island,” he said.

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R.I.'s First Safe Haven For Elderly Opens in East Grenwich

Former Lawyer Sentenced to Two Years and Restitution

Visiting Judge Scott Epstein on Friday sentenced former attorney Alex Frank Gallegos, 57, to two years in prison for felony theft related to a trust account for which he had responsibility .

The judge ordered Gallegos, a former South Fork resident, to pay $506,593 restitution to the William H. Sherman Revocable Trust.

Sherman died in an automobile accident on Jan. 20, 2008. The sole beneficiary of the trust, which had an approximate cumulative value of more than $1 million at the time of his death, was the Rio Grande Hospital.

At the time investigations began the hospital had received 0 while Gallegos had begun drawing funds from the various trust accounts shortly after Sherman’s death. Gallegos was the personal representative and trustee of the estate until the court replaced him in January.

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Local Attorney Sentenced to Two Years

Guilty Plea

An Arma woman pleaded guilty this week to charges of financially exploiting an elderly woman in her care.

Attorney General Steve Six announced Wednesday that Ernestine Anselmi, 73, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of mistreatment of a dependent adult, a level six person felony. Anselmi, and her late husband Ernest Anselmi, were charged in September 2008 with making unauthorized payments to herself from the checking account of 97-year-old Lena Zanichelli totaling nearly $1 million. Anselmi intentionally used undue influence, coercion, deception or false representation to take unfair advantage of Zanichelli, according to Six’s office. Ernest Anselmi died earlier this year.

Sentencing is set for February 2010. The possible sentence for a level 6 person felony is between 17 and 46 month depending on the defendant's criminal history. In this case, it is likely presumptive probation because Anselmi has “little to no” criminal history, according to Six’s office.

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Anselmi Pleads Guilty to Exploitation (With Plea Documents)

Update: Seidlin v Kasler

An 83-year-old neighbor of former Broward Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin contends he and his family exploited her frail state and swindled the millionaire out of several hundred thousand dollars in real estate, furniture, electronics and school tuition.

In an unusual legal twist, Barbara Kasler now is trying to prevent Seidlin from complaining she was abused or exploited by others to law enforcement or the state Department of Children and Families, which already has cleared him of an elder exploitation allegation.

Broward Circuit Judge Thomas Lynch convened an emergency hearing last week on Kasler's motion to enjoin Seidlin, his wife, his in-laws and their attorneys from lodging abuse complaints involving her after DCF and Fort Lauderdale police twice responded to tips that she was receiving inadequate medical and nutritional care.

In court documents, Kasler's attorney, Bill Scherer, claims the only harm his client is facing is from frivolous abuse reports and the subsequent investigations.

"Further intrusion and questioning of Ms. Kasler by DCF and law enforcement would be traumatic to her health and physical well-being" and could "lead to a panic and stress-induced death," Scherer of Conrad & Scherer in Fort Lauderdale wrote in an Oct. 11 motion, citing concerns raised by the woman's psychiatrist.

Kasler suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and end-stage Parkinson's disease, which can be accompanied by dementia. Her ex-husband and children are dead. Two distant relatives are now her caretakers.

Kasler's one-time attorney, Robert Bissonnette, filed an emergency guardianship petition in July in probate court, claiming he was wrongfully discharged and Kasler was being unduly influenced by her caretakers.

In another court, Kasler's civil exploitation case filed in June against Seidlin, his wife Belinda and his in-laws alleges the former probate judge preyed on her vulnerability. Kasler and Seidlin live in Marine Tower on Las Olas Boulevard. The lawsuit contends Seidlin began introducing himself as Kasler's son and wearing diamond and gold jewelry that belonged to her dead sons within six months of befriending her.

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Judge From Anna Nicole Smith Case Caught Up in Elder Abuse Claims

See Also:
Rank Greed
Elderly Sues Judge Seidlin

60 Days in Jail, 10 Years Probation, and Restitution

The former county clerk in one eastern Kentucky county is indicted on several charges, including abuse of public trust.

The Herald Leader reports a judge handed down the ruling against Wayne County Clerk Melissa Turpin Tuesday.

Turpin pleaded guilty to four counts, two on abuse of a public trust and two of theft by unlawful taking.

She will report to jail on Thursday to serve a 60 days in jail.

The rest of a 10 year sentence will be probated.

Turpin will also have to pay nearly 140-thousand dollars in restitution.

Source:
Former County Clerk is Indicted

Editorial: Judging the Judges

While the focus of the upstate Pennsylvania cash-for-kids scandal rightly has been on two rogue judges, a legislative oversight panel last week began a review that should make other stakeholders in juvenile-justice and political circles squirm.

The former Luzerne County judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, initially agreed to plead guilty, but a judge rejected the deal. They are now fighting a 48-count federal indictment for taking $2.6 million in bribes.

In return for those payments from the operators of two private prisons, the judges allegedly engaged in misconduct that hearkens back to grim Dickensian times: They packed off hundreds of kids to jail, often after perfunctory hearings at which teens were advised they didn't need a lawyer.

In the tradition of public corruption going back to Tammany Hall, the former judges could be said to have seen their opportunities, and so they "took 'em."

But what about other key players in the county and statewide who turned a blind eye, ignored red flags, or found themselves powerless to object?

That's the most important line of inquiry for the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, an 11-member panel formed by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, Gov. Rendell, and state lawmakers.

Federal prosecutors no doubt will want to track the commission's inquiry, as well, for any evidence of other wrongdoing.

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Editorial: Judging the Judges

Facing 25 Years in Prison

A jury on Friday convicted a former investment broker who recently lived in Aptos and attended Twin Lakes Church of 20 charges in a securities fraud case that involved bilking investors out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Kenneth Doolittle, 49, convinced people he met through church and other community involvement, such as the Rotary Club, to invest in a mobile home refurbishing company that promised a 13 percent return on their money, according to Santa Cruz County assistant district attorney Kelly Walker, who prosecuted Doolittle during the three-week trial.

Most of the victims were elderly, Walker said. She added that prosecutors believe there were as many as 50 victims, but the case detailed only 10.

Doolittle, who now lives in Idaho, bought mobile homes for $5,000 and resold them for $30,000, often to buyers who could not afford the payments. Walker described it as a "flip this house" scheme.

"Sometimes he pays the investors, sometimes he didn't," Walker said.

But most of his investors never got their money. One woman lost $132,000, according to Walker.

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Former Aptos Man Convicted of/a Investment Scam, Faces 25 Years in Prison