A Chester mother of five who worked as an office manager for a Rock Hill nursing home pleaded guilty Monday to misusing the residents' money.
Instead of the 70 years she could have faced on the 13 felonies she admitted to in court, 39-year-old Melissa Rice Kelly will be on probation for five years.
Kelly, business manager for the Magnolia Manor for two years, was charged in January 2009 with elder exploitation and forgery. An internal audit of Magnolia Manor found that Kelly forged and cashed $65,837 in company checks since April 2006, according to a Rock Hill police report. The report states Kelly was "terminated for this action" in 2008.
Kelly pleaded guilty Monday in a York County courtroom to 12 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of breach of trust with fraud intent.
Kelly was supposed to be on trial for misusing patient funds that she had access to - a trial her attorney Hemphill Pride said she wanted at the time of her arrest. Instead, Kelly agreed to enter pleas in the case Monday afternoon.
As part of a plea agreement, Ken Moore of the S.C. attorney general's office said there won't be additional forgery or other charges against Kelly in connection with these incidents. The charges Kelly pleaded guilty to relate to $13,200 taken from the nursing home and its patients, Moore said.
Kelly was indicted on $62,000 worth of missing money, Pride said.
Judge Lee Alford ordered Kelly to repay Magnolia Manor, placed her on probation for five years and ordered 30 days of public service. He said his decision took into account several factors: the nursing home repaid its residents once the missing money was discovered, Kelly is a mother of five young children and she has no criminal record.
Pride couldn't say why Kelly got involved in this incident, but said she regrets it.
"You won't see her in a criminal court again," Pride told the court. "She knows how to behave. ... She really wants a second chance."
Kelly spoke only a few words: "I'd just like to say I'm sorry about what has happened."
Magnolia Manor repaid its residents after discovering the missing money during an internal investigation. At least four residents were affected.
"It doesn't change the fact that you are guilty of taking money from those who can't handle it themselves," Alford said. He told Kelly he considered putting her on house arrest, but that she needs to be out there finding a job to pay the money back.
Arrest warrants show that around Jan. 10, 2008, Kelly passed a forged $300 check from Magnolia Manor's patient trust/petty cash account and later submitted a forged reimbursement form.
A second arrest warrant shows that sometime between Aug. 1, 2008, and Aug. 31, 2008, Kelly improperly used money that belonged to a man while he was a patient at Magnolia Manor. The warrant doesn't say what Kelly is accused of doing with the money.
