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Woman sentenced for stealing from elderly

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Stole thousands from dementia patients

ALBUQUERQUE –Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that Leanne Bennett was sentenced to one and a half years in the department of corrections Dec. 6 for stealing from elderly patients who suffered from dementia.

The Office of the Attorney General secured 11 felony convictions against Bennett for stealing more than $30,000 from elderly residents while working as an office manager at the Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque between 2012 and 2013.

Bennett was sentenced by Judge Charles Brown to one and a half years after the State argued for three years in the Department of Corrections.

“We have a responsibility to step in and protect vulnerable populations within New Mexico,” Balderas said. “This defendant took advantage of innocent New Mexicans battling dementia and a system we rely on to care for the elderly and disabled. I’m pleased that she will be held accountable for her crimes, and the people she exploited will receive restitution.”

Bennett gained access to residents’ checking accounts, ATM accounts and debit cards, and wrote checks to herself and made cash withdrawals from victims’ accounts from ATM’s across Albuquerque.

Bennett will serve a sentence of one and a half years in the New Mexico Department of Corrections, followed by five years of supervised probation, and will be required to pay more than $44,000 in restitution to the victims.