BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A woman who had faced dozens of criminal charges in connection with embezzling money from a 92-year-old man with dementia accepted a plea agreement Monday in which she’ll be sentenced to five years in prison.
Donna Crick, 61, pleaded no contest to a single charge of theft or embezzlement from an elder or dependent adult. Eighty-one other charges were dismissed under the agreement.
Commenting on Crick’s stipulated prison term, prosecutor Chris Dominguez said, “That’s a pretty good sentence for white collar crime.”
Crick was arrested Dec. 5 on allegations she wrote checks to herself and made ATM withdrawals from the victim’s account totaling $172,000. Crick told police she used the money to make her house and car payments and buy furniture and other items.
The victim said he was afraid Crick would get angry with him if he didn’t do what she told him to do. Crick had befriended him in 2013, and from then to 2016 she cashed 164 personal checks from his checking account.
“Once Crick had drained the life savings from the victim’s bank accounts, Crick convinced the victim to make Crick the trustee and beneficiary of the victim’s living trust, his home, his annuity and his life insurance,” according to a District Attorney’s office release.
The man was diagnosed with severe dementia in 2016 and a conservator put in place following an investigation by the Adult Protective Unit of the Kern County Department of Aging and Adult Services.
Crick’s sentencing is scheduled for May 13.
