Woman Twice Convicted Of Stealing From Elderly Charged Again
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A woman twice convicted of stealing from her elderly clients faces similar charges again.
Lola Johnson-Mersha was prohibited from working with adults in 2009. That is when she was first convicted of using a credit card that belonged to the 95-year-old woman for whom she was caring.
Officials now want to know if there are more victims out there.
Johnson-Mersha's victims and their families trusted her to look out for them. She worked as a personal care attendant, convicted in both Hennepin and Dakota counties.
"When I see these types of crimes, there's nothing that bothers me more than crimes against those that can't protect themselves, and that's exactly what we're seeing here," Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said.
His office is prosecuting Johnson-Mersha for the second time in less than a year.
"She was given access to the credit cards of the vulnerable adults that she was hired to care for. But once she had access to those credit cards, we're alleging in the current case, and we've convicted her in a prior case, of taking those credit card numbers and using them for personal expenses," Backstrom said.
The victim was over 90-years-old in each case. The credit card was used for groceries, cellphones and wedding expenses in one case; car repairs and daycare in the other case.
Johnson-Mersha is accused in the latest case of spending more than $7,500 on things like plane tickets and renting a vehicle in Florida.
"This is just disturbing when someone who's hired to care for individuals in need preys upon those individuals," Backstrom said.
Johnson-Mersha did not want to talk about the case when WCCO spoke with her at her home. According to the criminal complaint, she admits "knowing what she was doing was wrong," and that she was supposed to "notify any employer of her prior convictions."
Backstrom plans to push for the toughest punishment, which is one year in jail. He suggests doing a background check before hiring someone to care for a family member.
Johnson-Mersha goes before a judge in late April.
Charges in Minnesota are listed on a public website. Click here to access the Minnesota Court Records site.
