Georgia Woman Sentenced to 100 Months in Prison for Defrauding Widower

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a woman to 100 months in prison for fraudulently taking over the finances of a 74-year-old widower in a nursing home to steal $453,000.

Judge Schelp also ordered Shanita Gray, 52, to repay the money and had her immediately taken into custody.

Judge Schelp compared Gray to a shark that sensed a vulnerable victim and took full advantage “with the relentless desire to fulfill your greed.” He said she continued to lie even after pleading guilty to her crime by falsely claiming that a bogus power of attorney was legitimate. She has also filed complaints and lawsuits against those who tried to stop the fraud. “You’ll say and do whatever it takes to benefit yourself,” he told Gray.

In her August plea agreement, Gray admitted approaching a licensed notary public in Georgia to notarize a document seeking guardianship of the victim and altering it to appear as if the victim was present at the time. She appended that altered page to the first twelve pages of a durable financial power of attorney form to give the appearance that she had the authority to conduct financial transactions on his behalf. She admitted using that counterfeit power of attorney form to access his medical records and cause him “substantial financial hardship.”

In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry wrote that less than 48 hours after receiving notice of the death of the victim’s eldest son, Gray traveled to St. Louis from Georgia and began pillaging the victim’s home to compile the personal identifying information and account information of the victim and his deceased wife and mother. During the scheme, she used the victim’s assets to pay for first-class travel to the Dominican Republic and Hawaii and made direct transfers of cash to herself and relatives and purchases from Queen’s Jewelry, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Versace, the memo says.

The nursing home’s former director testified Tuesday that the victim did not want contact with Gray, did not want her in his home and did not want her to have access to his finances, which he wanted to preserve for his youngest son.

The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.