Wex Wimpy
August 16th 03, 07:45 PM
Caregiver pleads guilty to fraud
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
Pamela Graham, who helped care for Rilya Wilson, received two years'
probation and fines.
One of the caregivers of missing foster child Rilya Wilson pleaded
guilty Friday to welfare fraud and grand theft charges.
Despite repeated efforts by prosecutors, Pamela Graham, 34, will not
be forced to submit to a lie-detector test about the missing girl
under the terms of the plea deal offered on the eve of trial by
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Manuel A. Crespo.
Graham was placed on two years' probation, ordered to repay $12,560 to
state welfare officials and $756 to Camillus House, and perform 100
hours of community service. She will not have a criminal conviction if
she successfully completes probation, said defense attorney Martin
Beguiristain.
''This case was never about Rilya Wilson. It was a welfare fraud case.
We didn't need to be spending two weeks on a highly publicized trial
for this,'' Beguiristain said. ``She's a good person and now,
hopefully, she'll be able to get on with her life.''
A state task force arrested Graham and her housemate, Geralyn Graham,
in October. Prosecutors and law enforcement officials said they had
hoped the arrests would pressure the women into revealing more about
Rilya's disappearance. But they didn't blink.
''This part of the case is closed,'' said State Attorney Katherine
Fernandez Rundle. ``The search for Rilya is not.''
Rilya has been the subject of a massive missing person/homicide
investigation since April 2002, when the state Department of Children
& Families discovered that she had vanished from the Grahams' home.
The Grahams have maintained that a woman claiming to be a DCF
supervisor picked the child up in January 2001 for medical tests and
never returned her.
Geralyn Graham repeatedly has said she kept calling DCF and asking
when Rilya could come home. DCF has no record of those calls or the
purported January 2001 visit.
The Grahams claim to be half-sisters, but prosecutors believe they are
lovers. Relatives say the women had a commitment ceremony eight years
ago in Memphis.
Geralyn Graham, 57, is currently serving a two-year jail term
following her guilty plea in May to welfare fraud and grand theft
charges.
She still is facing federal charges of misrepresenting herself to
obtain a phony Social Security card and using a fraudulently obtained
credit card to purchase items worth more than $1,000. Defense attorney
Brian Tannenbaum had been negotiating a plea deal for her on the
federal charges.
If Rilya is alive -- and many law enforcement sources doubt it -- she
will celebrate her seventh birthday next month.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/6544714.htm
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
Pamela Graham, who helped care for Rilya Wilson, received two years'
probation and fines.
One of the caregivers of missing foster child Rilya Wilson pleaded
guilty Friday to welfare fraud and grand theft charges.
Despite repeated efforts by prosecutors, Pamela Graham, 34, will not
be forced to submit to a lie-detector test about the missing girl
under the terms of the plea deal offered on the eve of trial by
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Manuel A. Crespo.
Graham was placed on two years' probation, ordered to repay $12,560 to
state welfare officials and $756 to Camillus House, and perform 100
hours of community service. She will not have a criminal conviction if
she successfully completes probation, said defense attorney Martin
Beguiristain.
''This case was never about Rilya Wilson. It was a welfare fraud case.
We didn't need to be spending two weeks on a highly publicized trial
for this,'' Beguiristain said. ``She's a good person and now,
hopefully, she'll be able to get on with her life.''
A state task force arrested Graham and her housemate, Geralyn Graham,
in October. Prosecutors and law enforcement officials said they had
hoped the arrests would pressure the women into revealing more about
Rilya's disappearance. But they didn't blink.
''This part of the case is closed,'' said State Attorney Katherine
Fernandez Rundle. ``The search for Rilya is not.''
Rilya has been the subject of a massive missing person/homicide
investigation since April 2002, when the state Department of Children
& Families discovered that she had vanished from the Grahams' home.
The Grahams have maintained that a woman claiming to be a DCF
supervisor picked the child up in January 2001 for medical tests and
never returned her.
Geralyn Graham repeatedly has said she kept calling DCF and asking
when Rilya could come home. DCF has no record of those calls or the
purported January 2001 visit.
The Grahams claim to be half-sisters, but prosecutors believe they are
lovers. Relatives say the women had a commitment ceremony eight years
ago in Memphis.
Geralyn Graham, 57, is currently serving a two-year jail term
following her guilty plea in May to welfare fraud and grand theft
charges.
She still is facing federal charges of misrepresenting herself to
obtain a phony Social Security card and using a fraudulently obtained
credit card to purchase items worth more than $1,000. Defense attorney
Brian Tannenbaum had been negotiating a plea deal for her on the
federal charges.
If Rilya is alive -- and many law enforcement sources doubt it -- she
will celebrate her seventh birthday next month.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/6544714.htm