Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III announced that 45 year-old Kathleen Appenheimer of Maryvale Drive in the Town Cheektowaga pleaded guilty as charged to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case.  This is the highest charge for which she could have been convicted had she gone to trial.  In other words, Appenheimer did not receive a so-called “plea bargain” and was instead prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Between January 1, 2010 and July 14, 2014, Appenheimer, as a health aide, stole over $27,000 dollars from an 83 year-old woman. She embezzled these funds by forging checks of the elderly victim. Regarding her motive, Appenheimer initially sought to blame stress associated with dealing with her husband’s purported mental health issues, but later attributed her theft to gambling.

Appenheimer faces a maximum of 2-1/3 to 7 years in state prison when she is sentenced on January 5, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Case.

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Candace K. Vogel of DA Sedita’s Financial Crimes Bureau. DA Sedita also lauded the investigation of Detective James Jackson of the Amherst Police Department.