RENO, Nev. (AP) - A 27-year-old Reno man who had been appointed guardian of his father’s affairs has pleaded guilty to exploitation of an older person after prosecutors say he siphoned nearly $90,000 from trust accounts.
Nevada state Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced Tuesday that Yohannes Habtemicael (hab-teh-MIK’-ahl) could face two to 20 years in state prison for his plea to the felony charge.
Habtemicael’s attorney, Lee Hotchkin, says his client has paid back some of the money and will ask the judge to sentence him to a court diversion program that could have the charge dismissed if he completes restitution and probation.
Sentencing was set June 1 in state court in Reno.
Laxalt says that after Habtemicael was appointed by a court in 2014 as permanent guardian of 67-year-old Tewolde Habtemicael’s estate, he converted more than $88,000 of his father’s funds for personal use.
The plea comes less than a month after a financial guardian and two other people in Las Vegas were charged with pilfering some $550,000 from more than 150 wards of the court.
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