DeWitt man charged with embezzling money from 90-year-old blind woman
DeWITT — A DeWitt man has been charged with embezzling money from an elderly blind woman.
Peter Andrew Counseller, 56, stole tens of thousands of dollars from the woman in 2020 and 2021 and used it to take vacations and pay his mortgage and other expenses, the state Attorney General's Office said in a release.
The woman is 90 and legally blind, officials said.
Counseller is charged in 54B District Court in East Lansing with one count each of embezzlement by an agent of more than $100,000 and embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of more than $100,000 and two counts of filing false tax returns, according to officials and court records.
The records indicate Counseller was arraigned on Friday and asked for a court-appointed attorney. No attorney was listed for him in court records, and he could not be reached for comment.
A judge set a $50,000 cash bond.
A hearing to determine if he should stand trial on the charges is tentatively scheduled for June 22.
The embezzlement charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison upon conviction.
"Financial exploitation of vulnerable adults in our state is not only a serious crime with substantial felony penalties, but also an assault on the wellbeing and security of elderly Michigan residents," Attorney General Dana Nessel said in Friday's release.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: DeWitt man charged with embezzling money from 90-year-old blind woman
