Son Gets 30 Days In $300K Ripoff Of Dementia-Stricken Mom; Victim's Rent Went Unpaid, Left w/ $13K Tax Bill On Foreclosed Home Put In Her Name

In Ramsey County, Minnesota, the Pioneer Press reports:

• A Minneapolis man will spend 30 days in jail for financially exploiting his 95-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia, a Ramsey County judge ruled Tuesday. Joel Berntsen, 58, will serve an additional 60 days because the crime was a probation violation from a previous offense. [...] Judge Teresa Warner said she was not sure Berntsen was remorseful. "That you'd do this to your own mother is really appalling," she said. Berntsen pleaded guilty Dec. 10 to financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

• The criminal complaint describes it this way: Police learned of the situation when a home health worker for the mother called them. She reported that the elderly woman's bank accounts were overdrawn because of frequent withdrawals by her son. Police found that she was behind on her rent and that several checks had bounced.

• Berntsen told police he borrowed $290,000 from his mother in 2006 to buy a house in North Oaks after a previous home went into foreclosure. She also paid the $2,000-per-month mortgage. He said he invited his mother to live with him, but she chose to stay in her Roseville residence. Eventually, that home, too, was foreclosed upon, and Berntsen's mother got a letter from the IRS saying she owed nearly $13,000 in back taxes because Berntsen had put the home in her name. The bank then froze her account.

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• Prosecutor Daniel Vlieger told the court [] that cases like Berntsen's often result in a plea deal for limited jail time because the victim "may or may not be the best witness in the world" because of dementia.

For the story, see Minneapolis man sentenced for 'borrowing' from mom with dementia (He gets 90 days in jail, admits taking $300,000).