A Pennsylvania caregiver who stole from her elderly clients and then pretended to have cancer in order to delay her trial was sentenced in court on Wednesday, July 10.
As reported by 6ABC, Shannon Lynn Eberhart, 48, of Bensalem, was sentenced for stealing thousands of dollars in cash and heirloom jewelry from the families of two elderly women she cared for. She then submitted fake medical documents claiming to have stage 4 esophageal cancer to delay her trial.
Eberhart was initially charged in February 2023 following an investigation by Newtown Township police that revealed she had stolen cash and jewelry from two women who she worked for as a caregiver. Police say she also made unauthorized withdrawals from one of the victim's bank accounts.
After the investigation, Eberhart waived her preliminary hearing and formal arraignment, and the case was scheduled for pre-trial on three different occasions.
A month before her scheduled court hearing in December 2023, however, Eberhart presented a document seemingly from a Montgomery County hospital claiming she had stage 4 cancer.
When authorities contacted the doctors named in the letter, they said they had never treated Eberhart or authorized her letter. The letter was also found to have several inaccuracies, such as the official name of the hospital and its logo. Investigators also learned that Eberhart submitted the document to her attorney, who then sent it to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.
On Wednesday, Eberhart pleaded guilty to the unlawful use of a computer and two counts of identity theft related to submitting the fake letter. In March, she pleaded guilty to two counts of financial exploitation of an older adult or care-dependent person, theft by unlawful taking, and other offenses.
Eberhart was sentenced to one year minus a day to two years minus a day in the Bucks County Correctional Facility. She will then serve 11 consecutive years of probation. The judge also ordered her to pay $32,835 in restitution to three victims, undergo mental health and drug and alcohol treatment, and never work as a caregiver again.
"You are nothing but a con artist who deceived the people who cared for you," said Judge Gary Gilman. "You betrayed every cancer patient, you betrayed the court system, you betrayed your attorney."
