Sunday, March 22, 2009

California mother convicted of stealing from her disabled daughter

From the Sacramento Bee in California:

A former Davis resident has been convicted of stealing from her disabled adult daughter and using the funds to buy antiques.

On Friday a Yolo County jury convicted Elizabeth Loeblich, 65, of financial abuse of a dependent adult and four charges of grand theft. Loeblich's most recent residence was in North Carolina.

In 2005, Loeblich was living with her 24-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The daughter inherited stock and other assets from her grandmother that were worth $95,000.

Over a period of eight months, Loeblich converted the stock to cash and transferred the money to a joint account with her daughter. With that money, Loeblich paid bills and bought antiques.

Her daughter did not know that her inheritance was being spent by her mother, according to a statement from the Yolo County District Attorney's office.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 4 in Yolo County Superior Court. Loeblich faces up to six years and eight months in state prison, according to the district attorney's office.

"The victim was very brave in testifying against her mother at the trial," said prosecutor Elizabeth Eaton. "She was very heartened by the jury's verdict."