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WILKES-BARRE — A convicted caregiver was shipped to state prison Thursday for pilfering more than $250,000 from an elderly client and her disabled daughter.

Sharon Mae Jacobosky, 73, of Carpenter Street, Luzerne, pleaded guilty in September to stealing the funds from Clementine Moseman, then in her early 90s, and her elderly daughter, Pamela Wehrenberg, while acting as Moseman’s caregiver and power of attorney between 2009 and 2011. Moseman and Wehrenberg have since died.

After learning she was bound for a nine- to 48-month prison stay, Jacobosky called out to her daughter seated in the back of the courtroom.

“I’m going to state prison, honey,” Jacobosky said.

Jacobosky was ordered to pay $112,185 in restitution and an additional $1,559 in fees.

Jacobosky’s attorney, Stephen Geist, urged Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. to consider a probationary sentence due to Jacobosky’s failing health, but the judge said such a penalty would “diminish the seriousness of the offense.” Moreover, Sklarosky said, Jacobosky appeared to show “zero remorse” for her crime.

“This is a case of misappropriation,” Sklarosky said. “I don’t think there’s any question.”

As Jacobosky was led out the courthouse Thursday in shackles, she maintained she did nothing wrong.

“I’m not sorry because I didn’t do anything,” she said. “That’s why I’m not sorry.”

Jacobosky, a mother of four, initially pleaded guilty in February, but the plea was vacated in April after she suggested she was pressured into taking it. At another hearing Sept. 12, Jacobosky flirted with taking the case to trial or accepting another plea deal before a visibly irked Sklarosky ordered her to return to court the following day with a decision.

The next day, Jacobosky pleaded guilty to a single count of theft by failure to make the required disposition of funds.

Jacobosky was hired in 2009 to provide care for Moseman. After several thousand dollars was found missing in 2011, she was replaced as power of attorney by Evelyn Hannon, of Plains Township, who reported the theft to Dallas police on Dec. 9, 2011.

An audit was performed on Moseman and Wehrenberg’s bank accounts; it analyzed transactions made at several area banks. The audit showed Jacobosky received and spent approximately $258,538 of Moseman’s funds between 2009 and 2011.

A review of checks written during the two-year span showed nearly all were made out to cash and endorsed by Moseman, with a secondary endorsement by Jacobosky. Some are endorsed by Jacobosky only and others were endorsed by Moseman only, but both versions were deposited into Jacobosky’s accounts.

Jacobosky, Assistant District Attorney Tom Hogans said, gained Moseman’s trust then “absolutely took advantage of her.”

“What makes this case especially hard, especially heinous in my eyes, is the fact that they were both so elderly at that time,” Hogans said.

Moseman died in 2014 at the age of 97. Her daughter died the previous year. She was 69.

Sharon Mae Jacobosky was sentenced to nine to 48 months in state prison for stealing funds while acting as a caregiver.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Jacobosky_cropped.jpg.optimal.jpgSharon Mae Jacobosky was sentenced to nine to 48 months in state prison for stealing funds while acting as a caregiver. Joe Dolinsky | Times Leader

Sharon Mae Jacobosky was sentenced to nine to 48 months in state prison for stealing funds while acting as a caregiver.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Jacobosky-cmyk.jpg.optimal.jpgSharon Mae Jacobosky was sentenced to nine to 48 months in state prison for stealing funds while acting as a caregiver. Joe Dolinsky | Times Leader
Sharon Jacobosky, 73, also must pay back $112,185

By Joe Dolinsky

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Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL.