Mazeppa woman sentenced after pleading guilty to financial exploitation of vulnerable adult

Yahoo

22-04-2025

Apr. 21—ROCHESTER — A Mazeppa woman accused of withdrawing more than $178,000 from a vulnerable adult's bank account received a stay of adjudication, or a delayed conviction.
Daphne Jo Castillo, 59, was charged with 10 counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of issuing a dishonored check, all felonies. Castillo pleaded guilty to one count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult in February.
During the sentencing hearing on Monday afternoon, April 21, District Court Judge Pamela King issued a stay of adjudication on one count of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Castillo will also be on supervised probation for five years.
Castillo is also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $184,000 in restitution to the vulnerable adult. As part of her sentencing conditions, she will no longer be allowed to have any financial authority over anyone.
In exchange for her guilty plea, the remaining 10 counts were dismissed.
According to the criminal complaint, the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office was assigned to an adult protection case for possible financial exploitation on June 7. An investigator reviewed a maltreatment report for a woman who had an outstanding balance of nearly $30,000 due to a memory care facility in northwest Rochester where she lived. A check written in the amount of $10,500 was returned for insufficient funds.
An investigator observed "multiple suspicious transactions," including cash withdrawals, on the woman's bank statements, the complaint said. In July, Castillo told law enforcement that she had been the woman's power of attorney since 2014 when the woman was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Castillo said she purchased items for the woman's benefit with the woman's account. Because she had issues using the woman's card, Castillo began withdrawing cash for the purchases.
"She did not keep receipts and could not verify how the money she withdrew had been used," the complaint said.
Castillo said she did not know how much money she took out of the woman's account but admitted to using some of the money for a truck that Castillo purchased, the complaint said.
Following Castillo's interview with law enforcement, an Olmsted County Adult Protection Social Worker found that Castillo began withdrawing funds from the woman's account as early as 2019. Castillo withdrew more than $16,400 from July through December 2019, $28,000 in 2020, $15,100 in 2021, $12,500 in 2022, $61,700 in 2023, and $44,600 from January through June 2024.
In total, the complaint alleges that Castillo withdrew $178,643.16 from the woman's account over five years.