Bench warrant issued for former caregiver

A $25,000 bench warrant was issued Tuesday for a former caregiver who failed to appear in First District Court to face two felonies, because she is behind bars in Spokane County Jail facing armed robbery and burglary charges.

Former Post Falls caregiver Ladarion “Mary” Roberts, 22, is being held in Spokane County on a $100,000 bond.

She was supposed to appear Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to amended counts of grand theft and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

But Roberts has difficulties making court appearances.

Since her arrest last summer after allegedly stealing between $20,000 and $40,000 from a dementia patient at a Post Falls elderly care facility, she has failed to appear for court hearings on four occasions, prompting the court to issue warrants in excess of $100,000.

At a November hearing, deputy prosecutor Alexis Klempel apprised the court of the defendant’s apparent contempt for the calendar.

“She often does not appear in court,” Klempel told a magistrate judge.

Roberts worked only a few months at the Post Falls facility when relatives of an elderly resident noticed suspicious banking activity.

Post Falls investigators found bank records showing Roberts had made many withdrawals from the account, stealing as much as $40,000.

Further investigation uncovered a criminal record that showed “a recent and busy pattern of thefts,” in Washington, according to a report. In addition, Spokane County listed Roberts as a suspect in a series of residential burglaries, and a 2016 stabbing.

Roberts, who was initially charged with two counts of grand theft, one felony forgery and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, pleaded guilty to two of the felonies as part of a plea agreement.

Papers filed in First District Court before Tuesday’s hearing showed that Roberts’s Spokane County arrest violated the plea bargain, and prosecutors have asked for it to be revoked.

Grand theft carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Exploitation carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence.