This afternoon a jury returned a verdict of guilty against my mother, forgery less than $5000. Here is the story as far as I know. My mom was a victim’s advocate in Greenwood, SC. Last year a rival advocacy network accused her of federal fraud. A six month state law enforcement investigation and a grand jury investigation could not make that stick, but they found a document that mom had altered to protect a client’s anonymity. The document was for a reimbursement of $184, expense mom incurred relocating her client away from an abusive husband. Mom refused to make a deal and put it to a jury. I told her that when incompetent people got together and were willing to commit perjury, things sometimes go badly for innocent people. Mom was sentenced to one year suspended with 6 months probation. Mom is real dissappointed and she doesn’t know what she is going to do. Dad was a drunk and I’m a recovering drunk. I think Mom has been going to Al-Anon for 40 years so I gave it to her the way she always gave it to me when things went badly for me, my fault or otherwise. I told her, “put it behind you, look to tommorrow, and live today.” That didn’t work so I got more graphic and I told her, “Mom, they’re not packing cotton up your ass yet and you don’t have to actually spend time in the pokey, things will get better.” I rattled on and on along similar lines and Mom had a few laughs and she said that I must have heard something she said at least once or twice in the past 42 years. She thanked me and said that she would come visit soon. I hope I did right.
Can this be appealed?
This is just more proof that you can do the right thing and still get fecked by the “Justice System”.
And it’s also a reason why tv is better than real life.
I don’t get a few things here.
1: Of all people why are victim advocates groups fighting each other? It just seems bizarre that they would have it out for one another. There must be more to this story.
2: Why in the world would your mother alter an expense voucher she submitted for a client? Why is it necessary to protect the clents anonimity in the internal adminstrative paperwork of a victims advocate organization?
3: If your mother was guilty of screwing around with the paper work (regardless of the reason) why woudn’t she cut a deal. What would she gain by going to court on the facts of the case if it was evident and provable she had altered a document? Did she have a competent attorney?
Astro here is a link:
To answer your questions:
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Private, Non-profit groups compete for funding, Mom was very good at it. Immediately after Mom resigned her postion at MEG’s house, SCVAN (the group that ratted her out) volunteered their person to run MEG’s house.
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It was not an internal voucher, money is available on the local, state and federal level for victim’s assistance.
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Jim Bannister is one of the finest defense attorney’s in South Carolina. Mom did what she thought was right in the intrest of her client. She would not “cut a deal”. She said that if the Attorney General’s office wantwed to pursue it, a jury would decide. I told her that it might go badly. She had her day in court.
As a side note, due to the state’s investigation, Mom’s client was located by her husband. They are back together. For Christmas he went to jail for beating her again. As Mom was fond of saying, “They always bring roses!”
That sounds unfair, and very tough to go through. I hope your parents will be okay. Good luck to them.
This is the story you should be feeding to the Index-Journal (prominently featuring the names of the SCVAN chief and the prosecutor in the article).
In following your link your mother apparently double invoiced SCVAN using an altered voucher for services already substantially reimbursed by the city. Not the crime of the century, but not all that wise a move either.