Farrell woman sentenced for stealing from WWII veteran under her care

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – A Farrell woman who admitted to stealing from a now-100-year-old World War II veteran that she was hired to take care of received her sentence on Thursday.

Felicia Splitstone was sentenced to spend 24 months in prison and make restitution to the victim, plus pay court costs.

Splitstone pleaded guilty in September to charges of theft from a person in a protected class, receiving stolen property and forgery.

In January, the victim’s family reported inconsistencies in the victim’s signatures on checks, most of which were made out to Splitstone.

When questioned, Splitstone admitted to signing his name and using the victim’s credit card without his permission, according to a Brookfield police report.

Prosecutors say she stole more than $10,000 from the victim.

In court Thursday, the victim’s daughter-in-law spoke of the physical toll that the crime had on her father-in-law, saying it caused health issues due to the stress from it.

“It’s really destroyed him. For someone to bring that kind of trust with you and then deceive you so blatantly is really painful, to begin with, but when you’re 99, it actually leaves a physical toll on your life,” she said.

Splitstone apologized in court, saying she felt remorseful for her actions and she blamed her drug addiction for her actions.

Splitstone has not made any restitution yet due to her incarceration, her defense attorney told the judge. He said she has begun treatment while incarcerated, however.

The judge scolded her, calling her a thief and saying she took advantage of the victim.

Brian Oehlbeck and Nadine Grimley contributed to this report.

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