A home health aide has been sentenced to four years in prison after she was found guilty of stealing from an elderly couple in Toledo, Ohio. The charge is a second-degree felony.

The aide, Jamie Jones, 32, and her husband, Joseph Jones, 53, each pleaded guilty on July 27 to the theft of “tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars” from a 93-year-old woman whose husband had died after the theft was discovered, The Toledo Blade reported.

Jones was directed by her employer to clean the woman’s home due to a bed-bug infestation when she discovered cash throughout the home. Jones took home the cash in garbage bags and spent it on vehicles, real estate and other items, according to The Blade.

“They had been paying over $10,000 a month to your employer for the privilege of being robbed blind by you,” Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Dean Mandros told Jones in court. “Now they are destitute.”

Jones was ordered by Judge Mandros to pay the victim $84,897 in restitution, an amount representing purchases that could be documented by prosecutors. Investigators believe the amount stolen could have totaled more than $85,000.

The surviving victim has since moved to a nursing home. Judge Mandros reportedly called the actions “despicable.”

Judge Mandros condemned the actions of the Jones’ and told them in court, “At one point, she had sufficient savings to receive the highest quality of care in her old age. Obviously, that is no longer the case.”

Joseph Jones’ hearing for his part in the theft is set for Sept. 24.

Read the article from The Blade here.

Written by Amy Baxter