Prosecutors said Wallace took the victim to a bank, where he would withdraw money and give it to her.
SPRINGFIELD – The former coordinator of social services at the Wilbraham Senior Center will agree to repay $50,000 she admits to taking improperly from an elderly client but wants her criminal record clear so she can receive her municipal retirement.
Bridget WallaceBridget Wallace, 64, of Wilbraham, faces sentencing on Friday in Hampden Superior Court. A prosecutor is also recommending a $10,000 fine and a probationary term.
Wallace admitted in proceedings on Tuesday before Judge Peter A. Velis that she took the money over the course of a year from a man who went to the senior center in 2006 looking for help.
Lawyers said Wallace and the man became friends, and the evidence documented some 100 bank transactions.
It will be up to Velis to decide if he will support a request from Wallace’s defense team to have the charges of larceny by scheme of a person over the age of 60 and attempt to commit a crime continued without a finding so they can be dismissed when she completes a probationary sentence.
The prosecution wants the guilty pleas recorded and for Wallace to complete five years of probation in addition to the repayment and fine.
One of Wallace’s lawyers said the recording of a guilty finding will mean she will lose her retirement benefits. She was employed by the senior center for 13 years.
Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said such cases would typically call for a recommendation of jail time. There were concerns in this case, however, about whether the prosecution could secure a conviction. The victim's age and declining health played a role in the decision and the ability to present testimony and evidence at trial, he said.
The plea agreement by Wallace ensures the victim’s family gets the $50,000 and Wallace is punished by the fine and probation, the district attorney said. Mastroianni said he would not have proceeded with the plea if the man’s family did not want this resolution. It was also supported by the police who investigated the case and senior services' officials who were involved, Mastroianni said.
The man is now 94 and lives in a senior community. His son addressed the judge, saying Wallace, in her capacity for the town, was in a position of trust and should have helped his father instead of doing what she did.
The prosecution dropped 14 counts against Wallace as part of the plea deal, according to assistant district attorney James M. Forsyth. The larceny by scheme charge covers Wallace’s multiple action during a year’s period ending in July 2007.
Wallace took the victim to a bank where he would withdraw money and give it to her, Forsyth told the court. “He suffers from dementia and memory issues,” he said.
Wallace also had the victim put her name, instead of his son’s name, to inherit some stock upon his death, action which has since been reversed, according to Forsyth.
Defense lawyer Michael O. Jennings told Velis the plea agreement was that Wallace would plead guilty to the crimes and admit the state has circumstantial evidence that, if believed, could cause a jury to convict her.
Velis then asked Wallace if she was guilty of each of the two charges, and she responded in the affirmative.
Jennings said Wallace, once sentenced, is prepared to turn over to the victim’s family the $50,000 bail posted in her case.
William J. Powers IV, who also represents Wallace, said the case was one of extensive documents. A trial, he said, would have presented “a battle of expert opinions.” The $50,000 amount set in the plea deal for repayment represented a compromise figure reached by prosecution and defense lawyers, according to Jennings.
Jennings said Wallace helped the man get guardianship over his ill wife and continued a relationship with him after his wife’s death. She took the man to the bank, cleaned his house and helped him with other things, according to the lawyer.
Jennings acknowledged the relationship “may not have been the thing to do,” given Wallace’s position at the senior center.
Tellers at the bank, Jennings said, knew both Wallace and the victim, and it was “well beyond a year when someone at the bank voiced their suspicions” and Wilbraham police became involved.
He said he could say many things about the relationship between the man and Wallace and about their conversations but “I’m not going to go there.”
Wallace, who said she was employed at the center for 13 years, has no prior criminal record.