Exploitation of 90-Year-Old Woman Results in Arrest

On Aug. 5, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department received a call from Jill Hart, the daughter of an 80-year-old woman that the Sheriff’s Office believes may have been criminally exploited.
Lafayette County Investigators looked into the incident and realized that a local plumber named Leodis “Bill” Adams had done a small plumbing job for the elderly woman. According to neighbors, and confirmed by Adams, the job only took a few hours.
Adams charged the elderly woman$7672.50. She wrote a check for this amount. “Luckily, says Adam Wilburn, chief investigator with the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department, “we were able to stop payment on her check in time. After speaking with the woman for a short period of time, it was apparent that she suffers from a type of dementia. Her daughter, Jill Hart, confirms she does, in fact, have Alzheimer’s. I talked to local plumbers and the going rate for a service call is $75 and labor $20 to $40 per hour.”
Adams was charged with Vulnerable Person, Exploitation of Mississippi code 43-47-19 (2)(b). The penalty for this crime is 10 years in state penitentiary and a $10,000 fine.