By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
ARMA, Kan. — An Arma woman will have to repay more than $130,000 and transfer property to the estate of an elderly woman as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time in a felony abuse case.
Ernestine Anselmi, 75, pleaded guilty this week in Crawford County District Court to a single felony charge of mistreatment of a dependent adult. Anselmi and her husband, Ernest “Sonny” Anselmi, 74, were charged last year by Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six with bilking $923,897 out of Lena Zanichelli, for whom they were serving as “unofficial caregivers.”
The Anselmis were accused of using “undue influence, coercion, deception, and false representation” to obtain control of Zanichelli’s bank account.
Ernest Anselmi died in June, shortly before the case was scheduled to go to trial. Zanichelli, who was 97 when charges were filed against the Anselmis in the summer of 2008, died in March.
Niece’s view
Zanichelli’s niece, Tina Vanderelzen, of Waterford, Mich., told the Globe in a phone interview in September 2008 that her aunt’s mental capacity must have waned to the point that the Anselmis could take advantage of her.
The Globe’s attempts to reach Vanderelzen on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In 2008, she said that her aunt had resisted going to a nursing home, preferring to live at home, but that her health must have diminished in the months before the charges were filed.
Vanderelzen said she was planning to visit her aunt in August 2008, but she received a phone call from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services stating that the agency had received a call on an elder-abuse hot line about Zanichelli’s situation. She said she did not know who had phoned the state hot line.
The niece said she was aware that the Anselmis had been delivering hot lunches to her aunt for at least two years. She said she began to question the relationship in April 2008, when Ernestine Anselmi started answering the phone at Zanichelli’s house. Vanderelzen said the Anselmis began to isolate her aunt from other family members.
Money, property
Court records indicate that a substantial amount of the $923,897 was spent on providing homes and vehicles for Anselmi and her extended family. Several vehicles, furniture, real estate and at least two homes are among the items or cash equivalents listed in the plea agreement that are to be turned over to Zanichelli’s estate, including:
-- A home belonging to Larry and Penny VanBecelaere or cash in the amount of $87,569.56
-- Furniture, a home and land purchased by the defendant from Modern Home Center for Lynsay Arkeketa.
-- Cash or property for Cathy Anselmi’s mortgage payoff in the amount of $14,802.69.
-- A vehicle belonging to Cathy Anselmi or cash equivalent for the loan that was paid off in the amount of $16,508.34.
-- A truck purchased from Carpino Ford on June 13, 2008, for $11,727. 56.
-- Jeeps purchased for Miranda Anselmi and Elizabeth Harryman.
-- A Ford Crown Victoria.
-- Ernestine Anselmi’s bond for her release, reportedly in the amount of $50,000.
-- Thirteen lots in the Abbott Coal Co. subdivision in rural Crawford County.
The Anselmis reportedly had been acting as “unofficial guardians” for Zanichelli from at least May 2008 until late August 2008.
From May 14 to Aug. 11 of last year, the Anselmis reportedly liquidated several of Zanichelli’s assets, and made payments to themselves and family members from funds that belonged to Zanichelli, according to the attorney general’s charges.
If the proposed transfers are made, the state has agreed to recommend probation rather than jail time, according to the plea agreement.
Ashley Anstaett, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said in an e-mail to the Globe that the decision to recommend probation rather than jail is based on the defendant’s lack of criminal history.
The recommended sentence is from 17 to 46 months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Anselmi’s attorney, Eddie Battitori of Pittsburg, did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
Sentencing hearing
A sentencing hearing for Ernestine Anselmi is set for February in Crawford County District Court.
Local News
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0> Arma woman enters plea in elder-abuse case <font color="#ff0000">w/ plea agreement </font>
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