[Tvflguy]

News.


$104,372 drained from 98-year-old Villager’s bank account by her granddaughter

February 5, 2022


A 98-year-old resident of The Villages was shocked to learn that her bank account had been drained of $104,372 by her granddaughter.

Jessica Leigh Lewis, 35, was arrested this past week on a felony warrant charging her with theft from a person over the age of 65. Lewis was released from a Florida prison and moved in with her grandmother on the Historic Side of The Villages. In addition to a previous grand theft conviction, Lewis served time on multiple drug charges.

The elderly woman went to Sun Trust Bank to cash her Social Security check but was told there were not sufficient funds in her account, according to an affidavit of probable cause from the Lady Lake Police Department. The Villager discovered Lewis had been making withdrawals from the account using an ATM card she had given to Lewis. The withdrawals ranged from $221.81 to $30,557.

The grandmother ordered Lewis to leave her home. Among the items Lewis’ left behind were letters from the bank which Lewis had intercepted and not shown to her grandmother.Lewis had linked her PayPal account to her grandmother’s bank acount.
Lewis also used money from the bank account to pay for phone calls to her boyfriend, 40-year-old Jermaine Harvard of Eustis, who has been held since August at the Marion County Jail on a federal drug charge. Lewis also put money in Harvard’s commissary account at the jail.

Lewis was booked at the Lake County Jail on $15,000 bond.

[retiredguy123]

I agree, but she won't. One problem seems to be that the grandmother gave her an ATM card.

[New Englander]

She did this to her own grandmother. So sickening and sad.

[Stu from NYC]

What a horrible thing to do

[fdpaq0580]

When I hear things like this I can't help thinking that some individuals are totally irretrievable. Lock up, throw away the key.

Grandmother must be totally heartbroken.

[Chi-Town]

Grandmother gave her a place to live after serving a prison sentence. Some thank you. The granddaughter will hopefully be a prison to prison pen pal with her incarcerated boyfriend.

[Taltarzac725]

Exploitation of an Elderly Person or Disabled Adult in Florida.

She could get 30 years.

[Madelaine Amee]

Awful rotten thing to do, but if the Grandmother had had the money invested the Granddauhter would not have been able to touch it.

My Broker would not release any of our investments without knowing it was agreed to by one of us. $104K+ is too much money to have in a bank account.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Exploitation of an Elderly Person or Disabled Adult in Florida.

She could get 30 years.

I'm not a lawyer, but it appears that, if the grandmother gave her an ATM card with permission to withdraw money for the granddaughter's use, that statute would not apply. In any event, I would be surprised if the granddaughter ever serves more than a year in prison. Very sad.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I'm not a lawyer, but it appears that, if the grandmother gave her an ATM card with permission to withdraw money for the granddaughter's use, that statute would not apply. In any event, I would be surprised if the granddaughter ever serves more than a year in prison. Very sad.

What Do You Have to Prove in Cases of Financial Elder Abuse? - Steve Watrel, P.A. | Accident & Injury Law

It looks like the granddaughter's position of trust in the eyes of her grandmother would make this worse.

I do have a law degree but am not licensed to practice law in FL.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

What Do You Have to Prove in Cases of Financial Elder Abuse? - Steve Watrel, P.A. | Accident & Injury Law

It looks like the granddaughter's position of trust in the eyes of her grandmother would make this worse.

I do have a law degree but am not licensed to practice law in FL.

I hope she gets 30 years. The media likes to report on people getting arrested, but they rarely follow up on the trial, sentence, or plea bargain. She took over $100K, but only had to post a $15K bond. Probably paid a bail bondsman $1,500. I hope she didn't use the ATM card.

[Bilyclub]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I hope she gets 30 years. The media likes to report on people getting arrested, but they rarely follow up on the trial, sentence, or plea bargain. She took over $100K, but only had to post a $15K bond. Probably paid a bail bondsman $1,500. I hope she didn't use the ATM card.

The online rag, while vindictive and vicious, always publishes follow-ups on arrestee's cases.

[Gpsma]

Grandma was an enabler and deserved what happened.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Gpsma

Grandma was an enabler and deserved what happened.

She could have dementia or Alzheimer's or some other problem with her health.

[Topspinmo]

So, this something new here in villages? what lesson did we learn here for the future? If you got jailbird drug addict relative don’t give them access to bank account. But, I’m willing to out in limb here and say 99.99999% of us know that.