CLARION, Pa. (ETY) – A Clarion woman who stole around $250,000.00 from her mother over a three-year-period was sentenced on Wednesday to probation.

President Judge Sara J. Seidle-Patton sentenced 56-year-old Deborah Lee Bottaro to a total of five years of probation on Wednesday, February 19, on five first-degree misdemeanor counts of Theft by Unlawful Taking — Movable Property.

Bottaro was ordered to one year of probation on each of the five charges, with the sentences to run consecutively.

She was also ordered to sign over her share of interest on a piece of real estate to the victim and pay $25,000.00 in restitution, in full, by the end of her probationary period. There is also a no contact order in effect, barring Bottaro from contact with the victim.

According to court documents, Bottaro pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to the above charges on January 3.

A plea of nolo contendere is a plea by which a defendant in a criminal case accepts conviction as though a guilty plea had been entered but does not admit guilt.

As a result of the plea agreement, the following charges were dismissed:

• Forgery — Alter Writing, Felony 2 (14 counts)
• Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Felony 3 (21 counts)
• Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Misdemeanor 1 (157 counts)
• Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Misdemeanor 2 (66 counts)
• Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Misdemeanor 3 (24 counts)
• Theft By Failure To Make Required Disposition of Funds, Felony 3 (21 counts)
• Theft By Failure To Make Required Disposition of Funds, Misdemeanor 1 (162 counts)
• Theft By Failure To Make Required Disposition of Funds, Misdemeanor 2 (66 counts)
• Theft By Failure To Make Required Disposition of Funds, Misdemeanor 3 (24 counts)

The charges were filed on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, following a joint investigation by Toni Forsythe, a protective services investigator with Clarion Area Agency on Aging, and Clarion-based State Trooper Katherine Berggren regarding thefts that occurred between May of 2015 and April of 2018.

Details of the case:

In May of 2018, Clarion State Police Trooper Berggren was assigned to investigate a theft that had been committed against the victim by the victim’s daughter, Deborah Bottaro.

According to a criminal complaint, the victim had originally appointed both of her daughters, Deborah Bottaro and a known woman, to be her designated Power of Attorney (P.O.A.) in September of 2013. However, a P.O.A. Revocation took place in May of 2015, granting Deborah Bottaro the sole P.O.A. for the victim, the complaint states.

Shortly after this change, Bottaro moved her entire family into the victim’s residence, according to the complaint.

This investigation stemmed from the Clarion-based State Police being contacted by the known woman reporting that she had discovered that the victim’s utility bills were not being paid. She was fearful that the victim’s funds were being misappropriated, the complaint indicates.

The victim is a 78-year-old female widow who resides in a single-family residence in Clarion Township.

During the course of the investigation, Trooper Berggren received the victim’s banking account information from the Clarion Area Agency on Aging.

The victim’s accounts include several checking accounts, money market funds, annuities, certificate of deposits, and life insurance funds which she had accrued, along with her deceased husband’s, over a period of time to secure her financial security in her later years.

Upon reviewing the victim’s account documentation, the complaint states that it is apparent that Bottaro had cashed the victim’s CD’s and annuities, depositing the money into the victim’s checking accounts, and then removed the money in the form of checks written to herself for cash, withdrawals, and checks written to businesses and other entities which were not on the behalf of the victim, according to the complaint.

Checks written from the victim’s accounts had the victim’s signature and endorsement but were not written in the victim’s handwriting. Bottaro had also made telephonic transfers from the victim’s account to her own account. A preliminary report received shows that the defendant made transactions from the victim’s accounts, which were not for her benefit, in the amount of $248,076.15.

The following is a list of transactions from the victim’s accounts made by Bottaro which support the charges filed on this criminal complaint.

• The victim’s standard checking account had a total of 134 transactions of fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $55,426.93 taken from the account.
• The victim’s other checking account had a total of 19 transactions of fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $14,783.06 taken from the account.
• The victim’s money market account had a total of 77 transactions of fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $40,402.98 taken from the account.
• The victim’s home equity loan had a total of 38 transactions of fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $38,706.64 taken from the account.
• The victim’s life insurance had a total of two transactions of fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $7,996.31 taken from the account.
• The victim’s certificate of deposit (CD) had a total of one transaction of fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $26,655.58 taken from the account.
• The victim had a VISA Platinum credit card that was placed in her name without the victim’s knowledge. A total of six transactions took place of fraudulent nature. the transaction totals resulted in approximately $3,478.72 credited to the card account.
• The victim had a Lowe’s credit card that was placed in her name without the victim’s knowledge. A total of ten transactions took place of a fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $9,742.47 credited on the card account.
• The victim had a JC Penney’s credit card that was placed in her name without the victim’s knowledge. A total of 14 transactions took place of a fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $2,817.43 credited on the card.
• The victim had a Capital One Credit card that was placed in her name without her knowledge. A total of 23 transactions took place of a fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $40,777.13 credited on the card.
• The victim had a Chase Bank Card that was placed in her name without her knowledge. A total of 10 transactions took place of a fraudulent nature. The transaction totals resulted in approximately $7,288.90 credited on the card.

There were approximately 334 total counts of transactions of fraudulent nature.

According to the complaint, the victim did not authorize or request these transactions be made on her accounts and the defendant did not make these transactions for the benefit of the victim.

The P.O.A. was established for Bottaro to control and make transactions from the victim’s accounts for the victim’s benefit.

The P.O.A. directed that Bottaro must use due care to act for the victim’s benefit in the exercise of powers to handle the victim’s property.

Bottaro turned herself in on December 6, 2018, and was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn.