Wichita woman goes to prison after stealing money from stepmom in nursing home

A Wichita woman is headed to prison for more than two and a half years after she was found guilty of stealing $54,000 from her stepmother’s bank account while she was in a nursing home.

Shelby Frias, 53, was sentenced on Friday to 32 months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution to her stepmom’s estate, District Attorney Marc Bennett said in a news release. The 72-year-old stepmom had failing health and dementia and died about five months after the theft was discovered in 2017.

Frias was found guilty during a jury trial in January of mistreatment of an elder person. A second count of felony theft was dismissed prior to trial, Sedgwick County District Court records show. The crime happened between April 2015 and March 2017.

“Frias testified at trial that her stepmother wanted her to take the money and keep it safe in case the stepmother was ever able to go home,” Bennett said in the release. “Evidence at trial showed that Frias spent much of the money on shopping, hotels, trips and rental cars from 2015-2017.”

The crime was discovered by the nursing home when the housing bill for their resident was no longer being paid, Bennett said. The nursing home then notified the Kansas Department for Children and Families, and a DCF investigation led to the criminal charges.