CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman accused of taking more than $64,000 from an elderly woman while serving as her power of attorney pleaded guilty during plea and sentencing court.
Kathy Ann Martin, 57, 301 Ogden Ave., Clearfield, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft by unlawful taking and was sentenced to serve six months to five years in state prison.
Originally she was charged with 763 counts each of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and 549 counts of other reason access device is unauthorized by user. She must pay $64,668.18 in restitution.
Prior to sentencing, attorney Chris Pentz stated that it was “not a plan” for her to take these funds and commented that sometimes people just step over the line. Now she has been snapped back to reality and is ready to accept her punishment, he said. He noted that the recommended sentence was six times the sentencing range for someone with no criminal record.
Judge Fredric J. Ammerman responded that the 89-year-old victim lost her home due to foreclosure and this case was not just a mishandling of funds.
The victim “asked for money for glasses and special shoes and was told she did not have the money for that,” Ammerman said. This was while Martin was using the victim’s money for gambling and taking trips.
No restitution has yet been made and Ammerman noted that the victim will not get her money back in her lifetime.
He said the guideline sentencing in this case did not match the crime. When he started sounding as if he were going to send her to state prison, Pentz asked to withdraw the plea, but Ammerman refused.
Martin apologized and as she cried, admitted she made a mistake.
The charges stem from her actions while serving as power of attorney for the victim from March 29, 2001 to Oct. 1, 2013.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Valerie Darrow, Protective Services Manager at the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging told police that Martin had been using the victim’s checking account as her own. There were charges for Pittsburgh Pirate tickets, campsite reservations and many other questionable transactions on her account.
The victim spoke with police explaining Martin would take $20 out of her account once in a while to buy something that she needed. Martin did not have permission to take out more than that. At other times, she would order food for the victim, but not very often.
The investigation uncovered numerous transactions to First Energy and Fuel & Save for Martin and her husband’s accounts. Martin had been using the victim’s account to pay her fuel bill as early as 2004.
Numerous transactions were found to a Timberland Credit Union account that totaled $16,195. It was also discovered that Martin had written checks for regular trips to a casino. The bus driver said Martin and her husband traveled to the casino almost every month.
It was determined that Martin had taken $64,668.18 from these transactions, none of which benefited the victim.
