Former college trustee guilty of bilking woman out of $150,000

A former Whitworth College trustee was convicted Friday of bilking an elderly woman out of $150,000 while he worked as her self-appointed financial adviser.

It took the King County Superior Court jury less than a day to reach its verdict.

Tom Delanty, 52, of Tulalip, quickly left the courtroom on his own recognizance after the verdict was read, convicting him of 26 out of 28 counts of first- and second-degree theft and of abusing the trust of a vulnerable person.

When he is sentenced Dec. 12, Delanty could face nearly four years in prison.

Minutes after the verdict was read, Susan Boyer, the daughter of the victim, Nancy "Betty" Huegli, was on the phone to her mother, now 92 and living in a Gig Harbor retirement home.

"Mom! Mom!" she cried. "We got him. He's guilty!"

After firing Delanty in October 2005, the Huegli family investigated the man's financial doings — not only with Betty Huegli but other elderly people, too. Some had already filed civil lawsuits against Delanty. Others, such as Michiko Vincent, an elderly woman who trusted Delanty with her investments, and David Chen, a man with cerebral palsy, had taken legal action and received settlements in the past few months.

Throughout the trial, the Huegli family kept a courtroom vigil along with Vincent, and Joan and Peter Rogerson, once close family friends of Delanty, who said they had lost $10,000 to him. The Rogersons had hoped to give the money to their son who has Down syndrome.

"This is an opportunity for all those families to see a jury provide justice," said Jim Huegli, Betty Huegli's son.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott Peterson said he was relieved at the verdict. Delanty was acquitted on two counts of first-degree theft because Betty Huegli had signed two checks herself.

Huegli was in her 80s and living in Bellevue when Delanty, who then lived in Everett, began to help her with household tasks and bill-paying. Although she had no contract with him, Delanty was charging her $125 an hour for tasks ranging from bringing her lattes and picking up trash to helping her pay bills, according to court testimony.

Delanty told the court he began writing checks to himself from Betty Huegli's accounts to repay himself for such services.

Peterson told the jury Delanty had massive debt when he befriended Betty Huegli, that he forged documents in order to hide the thefts and that he concocted a fake identity for himself as the head of Sawyer Development & Investment to gain the Huegli family's trust.

On the witness stand during the trial, Delanty admitted the Sawyer company did not exist, but he said he was not in debt and had "$3 million in real estate."

Delanty also denied ever making claims to anyone that he was either a financial planner or a certified public accountant (CPA). In the gallery, not only did the Huegli family raise their eyebrows, so did Joan Rogerson and Michiko Vincent.

"He told both of us that," Rogerson said.

One of the jurors, who refused to give his name, said the guilty verdict came easily.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com