Police: Cedar Rapids woman takes over $10K from dependent adult

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids woman was arrested last week on charges that she misused Social Security deposits and stole thousands of dollars from a disabled woman for whom who she was the legal guardian for more than 10 years.

Jamie Lee Robinson, 61, is charged with first-degree theft and dependent adult abuse. In 2012, she was designated as the guardian ad litem for an adult diagnosed with an intellectual disability and other conditions that caused her to be dependent on others, according to a criminal complaint.

Robinson set up a joint bank account with the disabled woman in 2013 with Robinson and her listed as owners. Most of the deposits into the account came from the disabled woman’s income from Social Security — but several of the charges made to the account over the years that were not for her benefit, including purchases at liquor and tobacco stores, at Petsmart and at two cellphone companies, the complaint said. The disabled woman does not smoke or drink alcohol, does not have a pet and does not have or use a cellphone, the complaint states.

There was also a charge of $1,170.77 from Blairs Ferry Auto, which police were able to confirm was made by Robinson for her daughter’s vehicle.

The disabled woman lived at group homes during the time that Robinson had control of her account, and investigators compared the deposits made to the group homes she lived in with the amount of cash that had been withdrawn from the account since it was opened. They found that $11,058 was unaccounted for. Bills for the disabled woman were often paid late during this time period, and she regularly didn‘t have cash on hand to participate in group activities, the complaint states.

A warrant was filed for Robinson’s arrest May 15 and she was arrested Saturday. She was released from custody after posting $10,000 bail and was scheduled for a court hearing Tuesday.

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