Woman Jailed For Stealing $56K From Ann’s Choice Resident

A Warminster woman will spend nine to 23 months in Bucks County prison for stealing more than $56,000 from an elderly woman who lived at a local retirement community, prosecutors with the Bucks County District Attorney's Office announced this week.

Lisa Lehmann-Waters, 48, was sentenced Monday. Prosecutors said she arrived for her hearing prepared to pay full restitution of $56,058 to her 80-year-old victim. That factor "probably" spared her from a state prison sentence, Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Raymond F. McHugh said.

Lehmann-Waters was convicted on April of multiple felonies, including deceptive business practices, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a debit card.

According to prosecutors, between July 2015 and April 2016, Lehmann-Waters was a caregiver for a wheelchair-bound woman who lived at the Ann’s Choice Retirement Community in Warminster.

Warminster police were contacted after the victim’s children noticed the suspicious financial transactions. After an investigation, authorities determined Lehmann-Waters had charged and been paid for more than $36,000 in services above what she had legitimately earned. She also had used the victim’s debit card to make 63 withdrawals totaling almost $19,000.

In a victim impact statement, the woman's children said their mother asked: "Why would Lisa do this to me? I trusted her. How will I ever be able to trust another aide again?’”

The thefts have impacted the victim’s mental state and physical condition, her children wrote, leaving her with nightmares, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. “This trauma has knocked our mother down and she has not been able to get up,” the statement said.

Lehmann-Waters did not apologize for her criminal behavior, according to prosecutors. She said only that she was “sorry that we are here today” and that she respected the jury’s decision.

Lehmann-Waters was ordered to have no further contact with the victim or her family.

Image via Bucks DA