BY JON OSTENDORFF
MARCH 8, 2010
Ann Buchanan isn't one to give up. And that trait served her and her family well as she pushed to have a cousin charged and ultimately convicted of stealing her 89-year-old aunt's life-savings.
Marc Jeffery Hawk, a 54-year-old former county maintenance supervisor, pleaded no contest to four counts of embezzlement and one count of exploitation of an elder for taking $53,438 from his aunt's bank account.
He spent Earla Mae Cowan's life-savings at Harrah's Cherokee Casino, according to court testimony.
He is the first person in Western North Carolina to go to jail under a law aimed at protecting the elderly from financial exploitation.
But the conviction wasn't easy for Cowan's family.
At first, authorities didn't want to prosecute the case, and throughout the process, Buchanan said, officials suggested it should be handled in civil court.
Now she's hoping others will take notice of potential elder abuse and use a 2005 law aimed at protecting North Carolina's oldest residents.
“Be persistent,” she said. “And don't take no for an answer.”
Convictions for exploiting elderly or disabled adults are rare but on the increase.
Few convictions
Investigators statewide brought 12 charges in 2006, the year after the new law hit the books, but prosecutors made no convictions, according to records from the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.
Last year, investigators brought 84 charges and prosecutors won 19 convictions.
To win a case under the law, prosecutors must show that the defendant was in a position of trust and confidence with a person older than 60 who isn't able to take care of responsibilities that can include finances.
And the state must show the defendant used deception or intimidation to get access to the elderly person's money or property.
Abridged
SOURCE: The Asheville Citizen-Times
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