Woman stole $70K from her great-uncle in Wichita. Now she’s going to prison
A 43-year-old woman who stole tens of thousands of dollars from her great-uncle in Wichita has been sentenced to prison.
Stephanie Bracks of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to four years in prison and is being ordered to pay $52,661.60 in restitution, a news release from the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
Bracks was found guilty on Aug. 29 of felony mistreatment of an elder person and felony theft, the news release said.
The sentencing comes after Bracks and her boyfriend, Anthony Patterson, stole more than $70,000 from Brack’s widowed uncle in 2020, according to an arrest affidavit released in June 2021 by a Sedgwick County judge.
The uncle, Pearl Williams, died on February 14, 2024. He was 93.
On Sept. 4, 2020, Williams’ niece called the authorities after speculating that her uncle was being taking advantage of financially by Bracks and Patterson.
Another niece, who was Williams’ power of attorney, noticed that his driver’s license, Social Security card and several checkbooks were gone after Bracks and Patterson visited Williams in January 2020.
Williams’ bank accounts showed dozens of cash withdrawals and unauthorized checks written to the couple over several months.
The couple is alleged to have misappropriated $70,686.37 of Williams’ money from December 2019 to July 2020, where Bracks spent more than $52,000, the affidavit showed.
Before his death, Williams said he never gave anyone permission to use his money and wanted it returned. One bank returned more than $21,000 of the stolen money to Williams after he filed a fraud report, The Eagle reported.
Patterson was on probation when the crimes occurred. He served an unknown amount of jail time and is back on probation and paying restitution. He had pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to probation, the DA said.
Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker of The Wichita Eagle
$70K gone: Couple stole from elderly Wichita widower during visits, affidavit says
This story was originally published October 9, 2024 at 5:06 PM.