Caretaker of Neglected Pearl Harbor Survivor Sentenced to Two Years

A woman who while serving as his caretaker and let him live in was ordered today to spend two years in custody.

Milagros Angeles, 63, will be allowed to serve her time in a local jail.

She pleaded guilty last month to felony charges of false imprisonment of an elder and forgery.

Prosecutors said Angeles stole thousands of dollars from Navy veteran Arnold "Max" Bauer, for whom she had worked since 2009 as a paid caretaker. She was arrested in January 2011.

Adult Protective Services investigators went to check on Bauer after bank employees realized he hadn't been in for a few months, prosecutor Danielle Hickman said. Once inside the house, they found the World War II veteran living in "filth and squalor," with rat feces and trash throughout the home, she said.

Authorities found $9,000 cash in the defendant's bedroom and clothing, Hickman said.

The prosecutor said Angeles had written 56 checks to herself totaling $5,600. The defendant had also written other checks totaling $1,800 and was sending money to the Philippines, according to Hickman.

Bauer, who had dementia, was hospitalized with a severe urinary infection, then diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died of pneumonia last November at age 94.

CNS-04-12-2012 16:33

-City News Service