Man Sent To Prison For Stealing From Disabled Bucks County Relative

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A judge on Thursday sentenced a man to prison for stealing more than $38,000 from his disabled Bucks County relative.

Patrick Wayne Alderton, 46, formerly of Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, will spend up to two years in a state correctional facility after being found guilty on Jan. 11 of the misappropriation of funds from an incapacitated relative living in a nursing home in Quakertown.

Alderton was convicted on charges of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, theft by unlawful taking, unlawful use of a computer and other computer crimes, receiving stolen property and misapplication of entrusted property.

President Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. sentenced Alderton to state prison, along with a concurrent three years of probation.

During a guardianship case being heard in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in 2020, Bucks County detectives began investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds by Alderton, the personal representative of a relative’s estate.

The relative had been deemed a totally incapacitated person via decree signed by Common Pleas Judge C. Theodore Fritsch. The relative inherited more than $88,000 and during an accounting of her finances by her court-appointed guardian, money was found to be missing or unaccounted for.

The investigation determined that Alderton spent $38,608.99 of the relative’s estate on expenditures unrelated to her care, including $29,000 for rent on his former Whitehall Township home. The investigation also found that Alderton created invoices to cover up the use of some of the money to make it appear as if it was used for legitimate purposes.

This case was investigated by Bucks County Detectives and was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jose Perez.