West Milton woman pleads to stealing from elderly woman

TROY — A West Milton woman accused of forging checks and using a credit card to steal from an elderly woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony charges as part of a plea deal in Miami County Common Pleas Court.

Sarah Moore, 36, originally was charged with misuse of a credit card and five counts of forgery for allegedly stealing from the 93-year-old woman for whom she was hired to provide care in West Milton.

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The woman's son reported the thefts to West Milton police this summer after his mother received a call from a credit card company about possible fraudulent charges. The bill contained more than $4,000 in charges, police reports said.

Moore was accused of using the credit card and checks to pay her own cable and water bills, to buy gas, to make smaller transactions and receive cash back and to pay for services for a boyfriend in prison, police reported. The forgery charges involved checks taken from the woman's checkbook and cashed.

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As part of the plea deal, four forgery charges were dismissed in exchange for Moore's pleas on the two charges and payment of restitution. The amount of restitution will be calculated as part of the pre-sentence investigation, Judge Jeannine Pratt was told.Moore could face up to 30 months in prison at sentencing Dec. 4.

Pratt was asked to release Moore, who had been in jail since Aug. 14, on a recognizance bond. Paul Watkins, assistant county prosecutor, opposed the reduction in bail set for Moore in county municipal court based on her previous time in prison for drug related charges.

Pratt continued the $15,000 bail ordered previously.