SUTTON SENTENCED IN ELDER ABUSE AND IDENTITY THEFT CASE
 

Milwaukee County Woman Sentenced for Theft and Unauthorized Use of Personal Information

MADISON Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that a Milwaukee County woman has been sentenced in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on her convictions of theft from a resident and unauthorized use of an individuals personal identifying information related to her employment at St. Johns on the Lake assisted living facility in Milwaukee.

Van Hollen said that on September 4, 2008, Antoinette Sutton, 41, 3134A S. 12th Street, Milwaukee, pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft from a resident of a facility, two felony counts of unauthorized use of an individuals personal identifying information, and one count of forgery. Today Judge Richard Sankovitz sentenced Sutton to five years imprisonment, imposed and stayed, and placed her on three years probation for the count of theft.

For one of the counts of unauthorized use of identification, she must serve nine months in the House of Corrections. For each of the other counts she was sentenced to three years imprisonment imposed and stayed and placed on three years probation. The probation runs concurrently with the forgery sentence.

Conditions of probation include maintaining full time work, absolute sobriety and having no contact with the victim or any of the facility staff. Sutton is barred from working in any nursing care facility.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice's criminal complaint, Sutton was employed as a caregiver at St. Johns on the Lake and was assigned to care for the victim. Sutton used the victims credit card to purchase items such as cigarettes for herself and to pay off her utility bill all without the victims permission. Sutton then filed a change of address application with the United States Postal Service so that the victims mail would be rerouted to a friends address in Chicago in an attempt to keep the victim from seeing the credit card bill with the false charges.

The case was investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justices Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Eric Dfort.