SEATTLE, Va., May 5 (UPI) -- A Washington state man has been charged with stealing more than $200,000 from his mother when she suffered a serious stroke after giving him power of attorney.
Prosecutors in King County say Barry E. Brown, 63, drained Dottie Brown's bank account to pay for his own health insurance, bought gas with her credit card and obtained a reverse mortgage on her condominium in Federal Way, The Seattle Times reported. He also allegedly used the credit card for gambling trips to Nevada.
Brown was charged last week with one count of first-degree theft. Prosecutors hope to add an aggravating factor, stealing from a vulnerable person, which could expose him to a significantly longer prison term.
Dottie Brown, 93, was placed in a nursing home in Federal Way after her 2006 stroke. Her son never paid the bills and the home transferred her to one that accepts Medicaid patients when she owed $37,000.
Once a guardian was appointed for Dottie Brown, a judge ordered her son to repay more than $220,000, including the $198,000 he got by mortgaging what had been a paid-up condo. He has not repaid anything, the Times said.
