Written by Melanie Wilkinson
YORK – Earlier this year, Becky Stamp, 57, of Bradshaw, pleaded not guilty in a case where she was accused of stealing funds from a vulnerable adult for whom she was an assigned payee custodian.
Initially, she was charged with three felonies – unlawful taking with a value of more than $5,000, a Class 2A felony; unauthorized use of a financial transaction device with a value of more than $5,000, a Class 2A felony; and abuse of a vulnerable adult, a Class 3A felony.
But this past week, on June 18, amended information was filed by Susan Napolitano and Justin Hall, special deputy county attorneys and assistant attorneys general for the State of Nebraska – Stamp is now charged with 63 counts. The allegations now are that she stole from 20 individuals, all vulnerable adults, for whom she was an assigned payee custodian. In her role, she was only authorized to pay the individuals’ bills, on their behalf, with access to their accounts – but prosecutors allege she used the individuals’ money for her own purposes.
The charges against Stamp now are:
- Counts 1-9: theft by unlawful taking, $5000+, 2A felonies
- Counts 10-15, theft by unlawful taking, $1,500-$4,999, Class 4 felonies
- Counts 16-20, theft by unlawful taking, $501-$1,499, Class 1 misdemeanors
- Counts 21-30, unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, $5,000+, 2A felonies
- Counts 31-36, unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, $1,500-$4,999, Class 4 felonies
- Counts 37-41, unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, $500-$1,500, Class 1 misdemeanors
- Count 42, unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, under $500, Class 2 misdemeanor
- Counts 43-63, abuse of a vulnerable adult, Class 3A felonies (all individual victims)
Prosecutors allege the following amounts were stolen, according to court documents: $5,150; $54,424; $16,795; $5,251; $8,738; $6,914; $5,893; $9,200; $9,261; $3,306; $3,633; $3,152; $2,796; $3,335; $3,280; $647; $841; $1,266; $1,201; $572; $200
This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
