Crime & Safety
Former Shelter Island Justice Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft
Katherine Pope pleads guilty to fourth-degree identity theft; her husband pleads to fourth-degree grand larceny in case of alleged theft of a million dollars from 89-year-old Water Mill woman.
Katherine Pope, who served as from 1998 to 2002, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree identity theft, a misdemeanor, and her husband, Wayne Pope, pleaded guilty to fourth degree grand larceny, a felony, for stealing more than a million dollars from an 89-year-old Water Mill woman suffering from dementia.
The plea occurred before Judge Stephen Braslow on Nov. 15 in the Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead, according to a statement from the Suffolk County district attorney's office. The first day of the trial took place in Riverhead on Oct. 25.
The Popes stole the money from the victim, Mary Abbot Estabrook, over a period of four years, according to the district attorney's office. Mr. Pope had worked as a handyman for Estabrook and had allegedly obtained power of attorney from her, then used that power to write checks to benefit himself.
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Estabrook died on July 4, 2009 at the age of 89. The couple will be sentenced by Judge Braslow on Jan. 10, 2012.
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