A Wildwood man has been sentenced to a year in prison after raiding the bank account of his 88-year-old mother lodged at a skilled nursing center.
The woman, a patient at the Brownwood Care Center, contacted Wildwood police back in July, after she discovered her son, 60-year-old David Wayne Cochrane, had taken a check from her checkbook, according to an arrest report.
Further investigation revealed he had used his mother’s ATM card to withdraw nearly $600 in cash.
The woman also began receiving credit card statements that showed someone had used her credit card to purchase $1,160.28 worth of jewelry from QVC. Her credit card has also been used to purchase a Samsung 55-inch curved 4K television valued at $842.80.
When Cochrane was interviewed by Wildwood police, he admitted to the purchases and indicated he had also bought Apple i-Phones, jewelry and several Samsung televisions which he said he traded for drugs. He admitted to having a drug problem.
This past week in Sumter County Court, he was sentenced to one year in the Florida Department of Corrections after pleading no contest in the case.
In 2008, Cochrane twice had been arrested on charges of exploitation of the elderly. In each of those cases, the charges were dropped.
