Office of the Attorney General: A.G. KING ANNOUNCES PRISON SENTENCE FOR THEFT OF $97,000 FROM NURSING HOME PATIENTS' FUND

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

July 14, 2008

For More Information, Contact:
Joy Patterson 334.242.7491
Suzanne Webb 334.242.7351


(Montgomery) - Attorney General Troy King announced that a Montgomery woman, convicted for the theft of $97,036 while employed as an accounts payable clerk at South Haven Nursing Home in Montgomery, has been sentenced to serve three years in state prison. Anne Marie Jones, 36, pleaded guilty on April 30 to two counts of first-degree theft and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, before Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge William Shashy.

Jones was sentenced yesterday by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Clyde Jones, who was specially appointed to handle the sentencing by the Alabama Supreme Court after all Montgomery County Circuit Judges recused themselves from the case because the defendant had previously been employed by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Charles Price.

Judge Jones sentenced Anne Marie Jones to 10 years imprisonment, with three years to serve on a split sentence with five years of supervised probation upon her release from prison. Judge Jones also ordered restitution in the amount of $97,036.

The matter was brought to the attention of Attorney General King's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by South Haven Nursing Home's management after they discovered discrepancies in the facility's patient trust fund. A subsequent investigation conducted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Montgomery Police Department determined that from September 2005 to April 2007, Jones wrote checks on the nursing home's patient trust fund and represented that the money was being used for residents' personal needs. Jones was actually cashing the checks and depositing the proceeds into her personal bank account. Jones also intercepted numerous checks mailed to the facility for the benefit of residents and deposited those checks into her personal account as well. Upon discovering the theft, the nursing home reimbursed the patients' accounts for the amounts stolen.

Attorney General King praised the prison sentence as sending a strong message to those who would steal from Alabama's most vulnerable citizens. "Our parents and grandparents were strong for us and protected us when we needed it, and now that they are older and need our care, we must defend them from exploitation and abuse," said Attorney General King. "It is disgusting that an employee would steal money that families entrusted to a nursing home for the comfort and needs of their patients. This woman betrayed not only the trust of these elderly residents and their families, but also that of her employer. "

The case was investigated by Detective Corporal J.W. Hall of the Montgomery Police Department and Senior Special Agent Gerald Shockley of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and was prosecuted by the Unit's director, Assistant Attorney General Bruce Lieberman. King praised the management of South Haven Nursing Home for their diligence in discovering the theft and reporting it to law enforcement.