Wilmington – On the eve of World Elder Abuse Awareness, marked annually on June 15, Attorney General Beau Biden today announced the recent indictment of six defendants charged in a home improvement scam that targeted Delaware seniors.  World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is designed to bring greater recognition of mistreatment of older adults and highlight the resources available to victims and their families.

 

“We know that our seniors are especially vulnerable to financial scams, physical abuse, and neglect,” Biden said.  “Unfortunately, too often, seniors suffer in silence because for every case of senior abuse that is reported to authorities, five more cases go unreported.  We’re committed to confronting these crimes and responding aggressively against perpetrators, and we’re working to raise awareness so that all Delawareans can recognize the signs of abuse and stand up for our seniors.”

 

On May 28, 2013 Biden’s office secured a 12-count indictment charging six individuals with Home Improvement Fraud, Theft, and Conspiracy.  The indictment followed a year-long investigation conducted cooperatively by the Attorney General’s Senior Protection Initiative, Wilmington Police, and New Castle County Police.  The investigation, which ultimately linked four New Castle County victims over the age of 62 to the defendants, revealed that over a two-year period from August, 2010 to November, 2012, the defendants made unsolicited door-to-door visits to victims’ homes offering to provide home repairs, some of which were unnecessary.  The indictment alleges that little or no work was completed by the defendants.  Three of the four victims were solicited by the defendants multiple times.  One victim ultimately paid more than $100,000 to the defendants, and together the four victims paid the defendants more than $125,000.

 

The defendants and their charges are:

• Alexander Patterson, age 46, charged with Home Improvement Fraud (4 counts), Theft of a Senior Over $100,000 (1 count), Theft of a Senior Over $1,500 (3 counts), and Conspiracy (4 counts);
• Alexander Williamson, age 27, charged with Home Improvement Fraud (3 counts), Theft of a Senior Over $100,000 (1 count), Theft of a Senior Over $1,500 (2 counts), and Conspiracy (3 counts);
• Robert Gregg, age 52, charged with one count each of Home Improvement Fraud, Theft of a Senior Over $100,000, and Conspiracy;
• Frances Williamson, age 47, charged with Home Improvement Fraud (3 counts), Theft of a Senior Over $100,000 (1 count), Theft of a Senior Over $1,500 (2 counts), and Conspiracy (3 counts);
• Billie Jean Robson, age 27, charged with one count each of Home Improvement Fraud, Theft of a Senior Over $1,500, and Conspiracy;
• Catherine Robson, age 27, charged with one count each of Home Improvement Fraud, Theft of a Senior Over $1,500, and Conspiracy

 

The defendants are transient residents who have no permanent address but are believed to be currently living in the tri-state area of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  During the investigation, arrest warrants were issued for all six defendants and three defendants were arrested earlier this spring: Robert Gregg was arrested on April 2, 2013 and released on $3,000 unsecured bail; Frances Williamson was arrested on February 20, 2013 and again on March 7, 2013 and was released on $13,000 unsecured bail, and Billie Jean Robson was arrested on March 25, 2013 and released on $4,000 secured bail.  Arrest warrants remain pending for the three additional defendants.

 

A booking image for Frances Williamson is attached.  Booking images for Robert Gregg and Billie Jean Robson are unavailable at this time.

 

Attorney General Biden established the Delaware Department of Justice Senior Protection Initiative in 2008 to increase educational outreach and bring together state agencies, law enforcement, and other advocates to tackle crimes against seniors.  The initiative consists of three components: 1.) expanded public education with programs that highlight the signs of senior abuse, educate seniors about ways to avoid being a victim, and encourage victims to report their abuse; 2.) training to law enforcement, first responders, and service providers to help them recognize and respond to the signs of physical abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation, and 3.) the creation of a Multi-Disciplinary Team consisting of prosecutors, police, social services representatives, and others with the mission to identify and pursue senior abuse cases.

 

Biden urged anyone aware of a senior being victimized by neglect, physical abuse, or financial exploitation to call the Attorney General’s Consumer hotline at 1-800-220-5424 or Delaware’s Adult Protective Services hotline at 1-800-223-9074 and directed those who suspect a case of senior abuse in a Delaware-licensed residential facility to call the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Hotline at (302) 577-5000 or the Division of Long Term Care Residents Protection at 1-877-453-0012.

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New Castle – Today, Attorney General Beau Biden, joined by New Castle County Police, County Executive Tom Gordon, legislators, and community members announced the closure of a New Castle drug haven using Delaware’s crime-fighting criminal nuisance abatement law.

“This property is a classic example of why our Nuisance Abatement Program is so powerful,” Biden said.  “Despite the continued enforcement efforts by New Castle County Police, it was clear that making arrest after arrest was not stopping violent criminal activity at this residence.  We had to stop it at its source by shutting down the property and that’s where our nuisance abatement law works as a crime fighting tool.  Today’s closure is an important step in ending the criminal activity and giving community residents the peace and security they deserve.”

The property, located at 21 Memorial Drive, has been the site of constant criminal activity for more than three years.  Since the fall of 2009, when criminal behavior began to occur on-site, the property became widely known as a safe haven for prostitutes and drug dealers and a location where you could drive up and purchase drugs.  During this time, New Castle County Police were dispatched to the property at least 177 times, arresting at least 40 different people for drug, prostitution, and other crimes.  In addition, the County used its disorderly premises ordinance to cite the property’s owner for the illegal conduct, and the owner, 68 year-old Paul Bembry, has been found in violation of this ordinance five times since 2011, including three times this year alone.

Over the past year, criminal activity at the location increased and has included a stabbing, an armed robbery, and three violent assaults.  Earlier this year, New Castle County Police conducted an investigation of the ongoing criminal activity, which included an undercover drug buy of heroin and cocaine.  In March, police executed a search warrant, seizing an illegal handgun in the owner’s bedroom, along with drugs and drug paraphernalia.  During the search police found evidence that gunshots had been fired in the house earlier that same day and located a bullet hole in the home.

New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon thanked Biden for the Department of Justice’s lawsuit to shutter this problem property, a move that would ultimately improve quality of life for county residents.  “To be able to have this tool in the arsenal I think is going to be a great asset as we go on,” Gordon said. “The Attorney General has come in today to say enough is enough.  We’ll use all these tools to bring the community back.”

“Today’s collaborative effort between the New Castle County Police and the Attorney General’s office demonstrates each agency’s commitment to ensuring peace and tranquility to our citizens,” said New Castle County Police Chief Elmer Setting.  “We cannot let the criminal actions and poor decisions of a few have an egregious impact on the overwhelming majority of our citizens who are civically responsible, are good neighbors and deserve to have safe communities.  Today’s abatement actions should serve as a reminder to all property owners in New Castle County that while police will make every effort to assist you in keeping your property safe, the ultimate responsibility is yours as a property owner.  When you do not take the appropriate actions to eliminate unsettling activities that are disrupting your community, the next Press Conference may possibly be held on your front lawn.”

Chief Setting brought the ongoing activity at the Memorial Drive property to the attention of the Attorney General’s Office this spring and Biden’s Nuisance Abatement Program immediately conducted an investigation.  On May 3, prosecutors filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the property’s owner seeking its immediate closure because of the ongoing and violent criminal activity.  At a temporary abatement hearing on May 15, New Castle County Superior Court Judge Calvin Scott agreed with the Department of Justice, finding that the property presented a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the community, and he ordered that it be closed.  In addition, Judge Scott ruled that all tenants and residents are to have no contact with the property until a permanent abatement hearing takes place at a future time.

Biden noted that this was the first lawsuit filed since Delaware’s Nuisance Abatement Act was enhanced in 2011, and he recognized Senator Margaret Rose Henry and Representative J.J. Johnson, whose districts include the Memorial Drive property, for sponsoring that legislation.  Those revisions expand the criteria that can be used to declare a property a criminal nuisance, which now includes gun crimes, gang activity, and high levels of violent crime.  It also allows the Court to consider factors, such as increased calls to police, decreased property values, and residents’ fear of being outside in public places, which reflect overall harm that criminal activity imposes on a community.

“As politicians, we often deal with problems at a 30,000-foot level. This is addressing community problems at the ground level,” said Rep. Johnson, D-Jefferson Farms. “This property has been a thorn in my side and in the sides of neighbors for years. It has been like Grand Central Station, with people pulling up to the house, conducting their business and leaving. The property owner had chances to do the right thing and has consistently chosen the wrong path. Attorney General Beau Biden taking this action today closes down one problem house and sends notice to other properties that we will not tolerate this, and we will reclaim our neighborhoods.”

State Prosecutor Kathleen Jennings recognized her staff for their dedicated efforts to reduce crime through the innovative Nuisance Abatement Program, saying, “The quiet hero in these cases is Deputy Attorney General Dan Logan, who is in direct contact with community leaders across our state on a daily basis to identify properties that are sites for criminal activity and to partner with them to root it out at its source.  This closure is another great example of how we are using this very effective tool to reduce crime.”

In 2007, Attorney General Biden announced a statewide effort to reduce crime using Delaware’s Nuisance Abatement Act.  Enforcement actions can take a variety of forms, including closure of the property.  Biden’s office identifies nuisance properties statewide through its own investigations and through cooperation with state and local police agencies, local authorities, civic associations, and residents. It works to abate those nuisances, either by obtaining a court order or through the voluntary cooperation of the owner to clean up the illegal activity.  To date, more than a dozen properties have been shut down because they were found to present an immediate threat to the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community and more than 125 nuisances have been abated as a result of Nuisance Abatement enforcement actions.

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