A 52-year-old Hanover man was sentenced to 10 years probation, 20 days in jail and thousands of dollars in fines and restitution after a Wright County Court judge ruled he took more than $40,000 from his father’s IRA account.
Ross, Lon Charles, 52, of Hanover, was sentenced on March 3 for Felony Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult to a stay of imposition for 10 years on conditions of probation, serve 20 days jail, pay $250 fine, pay restitution, provide DNA sample, have no same or similar violations. Sentenced by Judge Michele Davis.
According to court documents, Wright County detectives were called to investigate the finances of Charles Ross, a “vulnerable adult” in the eyes of the court, after Charles had not paid more than $6,000 in rent to Chadron Court Apartments.
The Wright County Law Enforcement Center (Photo Courtesy of Wright County)
A complaint filed in Wright County Court said detectives spoke to Lon Charles Ross in 2011 after calls from Wright County Human Services determined Lon, Charles’ son, was serving as the power of attorney for the elder Ross, who was battling dementia.
The investigation was temporarily closed due to lack of information, but re-opened when a detective spoke with Charles’ new power of attorney, Kristine McGovern, who told Wright County that Charles wished to have the investigation move ahead.
Research showed that more financial issues were apparent, including a financial planner who showed that Lon Ross withdrew funds from an IRA for medical bills in 2010. More than $40,000 was taken from an IRA account, but as of September 2010, a stack of medical bills from Charles’ hospitalization in 2009 had not, in fact, been paid.
Detectives determined insurance had covered most of the bills, and that the bulk of the $40,000 in the IRA wasn’t needed to pay the remainder.
Lon told police, upon questioning, that his father had loaned him the money and he had “concerns about Charles having loaned him money and not remembering it.”
Detectives determined the money withdrawn from the IRA was not used on Charles’ benefit, and then proceeded with an arrest on charges of felony exploitation of a vulnerable adult, which carried a maximum fine of 20 years in prison and/or $100,000 in fines.