Woman gets 10 years for bilking $24K from 85-year-old neighbor to feed gambling addiction

Woman gets 10 years for bilking $24K from 85-year-old neighbor to feed gambling addiction
SANDY CULLEN


A Sun Prairie woman who bilked an 85-year-old neighbor out of $24,000 to feed her gambling addiction, then claimed he gave her the money for "sexual favors," was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Gloria E. Evans, 49, told Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke that she bet $500 a hand at a casino.

Ehlke sentenced Evans to eight years in prison and five years of extended supervision for theft by false representation. She had told the victim that she needed him to loan her the money until an insurance settlement came through in Mississippi.

Evans, who has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s, also was sentenced to an additional two years in prison and three years of extended supervision for another theft and felony bail-jumping convictions.

Assistant District Attorney Shelly Rusch noted that the victim — who has no family, friends or neighbors who look after him — is not sure how he will fare in retirement and is concerned about how he will pay for his burial costs.

He told the court he was "trying to play a good citizen" and Evans "just walked over me," and deceived and took advantage of him.

Workers at the U.S. Bank in Sun Prairie noticed that the victim had withdrawn the cash in several in-person transactions between Jan. 6 and Jan. 18. The bank manager contacted police Jan. 20 after he returned to the bank with Evans and tried to withdraw another $8,500. Evans then had the victim accompany her to the U.S. Bank branch near East Towne and again attempt to withdraw the $8,500, which was declined after the Sun Prairie manager advised that branch of her concerns.

Speaking in court, Evans apologized to the victim, saying, "He's a wonderful human being and he didn't deserve this."

Evans' attorney, Dorothea Watson, said Evans believed "she was going to hit it big" and "was going to be able to pay it all back."