Sentencing delayed for swindling New Hope son
The son was also was his mother's caregiver, punishment must wait until the mother's needs are met. She has Alzheimer's.
October 21, 2009
A New Hope man, who pleaded guilty to swindling his 78-year-old mother, temporarily avoided sentencing Tuesday because a judge acknowledged that the man remains the sole caregiver of the mother whose bank account he depleted.
Anna Sitte has Alzheimer's disease, which was diagnosed years ago, but until plans for her immediate future are made, sentencing for her son Steven Carl Sitte, 53, can't be determined, said Hennepin County District Judge Warren Sagstuen.Jimmy Sitte, who turned in his brother to authorities earlier this year, has asked that their mother be moved back to North Dakota. There, three acres remain of a century-old 188-acre family farm that Jimmy Sitte says his brother liquidated without his mother's knowledge.
"In a case as complex as this, one that involves the health and well-being of one of our senior citizens, I would be remiss" to immediately sentence Steven Sitte, said Sagstuen. He moved to delay sentencing until Nov. 16.
"There's so much at stake," the judge said, "not only for Mr. Sitte, but the entire family, especially the mother."
Anna Sitte was not in the court room. The brothers, sitting 10 feet apart in court, did not speak to one another.
According to court records, Anna Sitte's dementia had worsened by early 2007. That year, the documents say, Steven, unemployed and $300,000 in debt, forged his mother's signature 17 times on checks totaling $136,000.
5 million victims a year
Each year, an estimated 5 million Americans fall victim to elder abuse, according to the Elder Justice Coalition in Washington. Of those cases, nearly one-fifth involve financial exploitation. The numbers of victims -- usually women between 75 and 80 -- are expected to increase as the population ages.Abridged
SOURCE: The Star Tribune
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