(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater woman who admitted financially exploiting an 89-year-old man by writing checks out of his bank account totaling $454,813 for her own use while she was his court-appointed guardian has been given a two-year prison term with an order to make full restitution.
Dana Kathleen Frank, 58, who was removed as the man’s guardian on Sept. 6, 2012, must serve eight years of probation on her release from prison, as part of her sentence recommended on Aug. 13 by prosecutor Mike Kulling.
Defense attorney Cheryl Ramsey of Stillwater told District Judge Phillip Corley at Frank’s sentencing on Aug. 13, “We do dispute the amount of restitution — we don’t have proof to give the court,” and added that $82,535 had been paid the previous week toward resitution.
“On her release, she’ll make monthly payments,” toward the full $454,813 restitution, Ramsey said in court.
Then the judge asked, “How do you propose to make payments on Social Security?” to which the defense attorney responded, “She still has property she intends to sell.” The judge ordered that Frank, who had been free on $25,000 cash bond, be taken to the Payne County Jail.
When she pleaded guilty to financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult by caretaker, Frank said, “I purchased property and paid for it out of funds of a person I was caring for.”
Frank blamed her actions in part to her hoarding disorder, according to a background report compiled for the judge prior to her sentencing.
“In 2010 I had been working for my father in his homebuilding and rental property business. I met one of his tenants (the victim) and he needed a caretaker so I started working for him.
“I helped him pay his bills and drove him places since he didn’t drive. When he went to the doctor, they called the Department of Human Services Adult Protective Services and a caseworker took him to the Cushing hospital to do an assessment,” Frank said.
The victim was then moved to an assisted living center in Stillwater, the report said. “He requested that I be made his guardian and I helped him fix up his apartment.
“He went to the hospital several times because he would slip and fall in the shower. I started to help him get his estate in order, since he did not have any relatives close by.
“I sold a bunch of his stamps and the money was put into his account. I started buying him stuff — as well as myself — with his money.
“I believe I did this due to my anxiety, which is part of my diagnoses of obsessive compulsive disorder and hoarding disorder. I just continued to spend and hoard.
“The Adult Protective Services people called me in to talk to them, and I then retained an attorney. In October of 2012, a detective came to talk to me and I directed him to my attorney, Cheryl Ramsey. The court process started at that time.”
Stillwater Police Detective Richard Leport wrote in an affidavit that “On Sept. 7, 2012, Stillwater Police Officer Jeremiah Johnson met with Stacey Reed, who is employed by Adult Protective Services at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.”
Reed reported that she had recently discovered Frank had embezzled funds from an 89-year-old man, who resides at an assisted living facility in Stillwater, the affidavit said.
Frank had been appointed in Payne County District Court as guardian for the man on March 9, 2010, and was removed from that post on Sept. 6, 2012, the affidavit said.
When Reed reviewed the bank records for the man’s checking account, she found “182 checks signed by Dana Frank as the guardian that were payable to Dana Frank,” the affidavit said.
The checks, dated between March 18, 2010, and Aug. 7, 2012, totaled approximately $454,813, the affidavit said.
In the background report, Frank said that after she stopped working for the victim, she started receiving $1,563 in monthly disability payments.
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