Lila North, 91, was facing eviction from her assisted living facility in Woodstock after no one paid her rent in the fall of 2021, officials said.
Her 64-year-old son, Thomas Glenn North III, drained her savings, stole the funds from the sale of her home and took money from the family trust, leaving her penniless. Family members discovered her accounts were empty and went to investigators, who found that Thomas North had stolen $1.35 million over a three-year span, according to the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office.
North, who had his mother’s power of attorney, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count each of neglect and exploitation of a disabled, adult or elderly person, and 35 counts of theft. He’ll also be on probation for another 30 years, according to court documents.
Lila North died in September, weeks before her son’s sentencing, her daughter Meg Taylor said.
“She knew his sentencing hearing was coming up, and I don’t think she wanted to know the outcome,” Taylor said. “She didn’t want him to go to jail. She wanted him to pay her back.”
When Taylor realized that her mother’s accounts were so low on funds, she knew she needed to go to authorities.
“I decided I would contact the police, but not blame my brother,” she said. “I was hoping it could have been a bank error. I really was hoping that.
“It was just devastating to me that he would do that.”
Taylor said her mother felt betrayed.
“She also was humiliated because she felt that if anybody she knew and cared about learned about what he did, then they were going to blame her for raising him to become a thief,” Taylor said.
The judge’s 10-year sentence was five years longer than what prosecutors had requested after North’s non-negotiated guilty plea.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
North was also ordered to pay restitution: $1.35 million in a $50,000 payment each year, according to the DA’s office. He is also forbidden to have contact with the victim or family members.
“What is especially shocking about this case is that this defendant brazenly withdrew thousands of dollars on a regular basis until his mother was left penniless and no longer able to support herself,” District Attorney Susan Treadaway said in a news release. “A lifetime of savings was wiped out in three years.”
Court documents allege he wrote checks for himself from her bank account ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 at a time, sometimes multiple times per month. While the charges focused on felony theft, he also took smaller amounts, Taylor said.
She said he used some of the money to buy a house and build a pool and a tiki bar in the backyard. In a court hearing, he read a prepared statement of remorse, she said.
“He said that he was sorry, that greed took over,” Taylor said. “I don’t believe that he is sorry. I believe he’s sorry that he got caught.”
Taylor said she wants her mother’s experience to help inform older adults about how to protect their finances from exploitation.
The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has guidance on how to report abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults. The AG’s consumer protection division has an online guide “designed to help older adults avoid fraud and exploitation, make wise choices about their money and well-being, and navigate some of the challenges that come with aging.”
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