Man charged with draining mother's savings, racking up her credit card

When Barry E. Brown took over power of attorney for his 93-year-old mother, Dottie, he was supposed to make sure she was taken care of, and that her life savings were secure.

Instead, according to King County prosecutors, Brown spent the next few months draining her bank accounts, racking up her credit card, and mortgaging her paid-off condo in Federal Way.

And he spent the money on trips to Nevada casinos, country-club bills, tanning salons, smoke shops and even his own health insurance — all while his mother's nursing-home bills went unpaid until she was evicted, prosecutors charge.

Brown, 63, was charged last week in Superior Court with one count of first-degree theft. Prosecutors also are seeking an aggravating factor to the charge — that Dottie Brown, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2006, was particularly vulnerable. That would allow them to seek a much longer sentence than the three months in jail that he would otherwise face under state standards.

Brown, who remains free, has been summoned to arraignment May 13. A current phone number for Brown could not be immediately located.

Brown has already been sued by a guardian appointed to represent his mother. A judge in January ordered Brown to pay back more than $220,000, but not a dollar yet has been sent, according to charging documents.

Brown had his mother sign over power-of-attorney in February 2006, giving him full control over her finances and real-estate, according to the charging documents. At the time, she had a little bit of money in the bank, a credit card, and her condo, which was completely paid off.

A week later, she had a stroke. She was hospitalized and then ended up in a Federal Way nursing home.

Within a month, prosecutors say, Brown had executed a reverse mortgage on the condo to the tune of $198,000. He took at least $5,000 out of her bank account and wrote checks to himself and to the AAA auto club for his own membership and to the state for his Basic Health insurance.

He also used his mother's credit card to book trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. And he used it at smoke shops, gas stations, grocery stores, auto-repair garages and a Federal Way tanning salon, the court documents say. The bills topped $4,400.

In the meantime, prosecutors say, Brown never gave a nickel to the nursing home. After the bill topped $37,000, the administrators kicked Dottie Brown out and sent her to live at a different facility in Gig Harbor that takes Medicare.

The condo has since been sold by Dottie Brown's new guardian, the court papers say. After the mortgages were paid, she netted less than $19,000.

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com