Larry’s guardian charges $55,000 or ALL of Larry’s pension in guardianship fees. These are fees approved by Judge Jeanette Dalton in Kitsap county and then Carlos Velategui in King county. Larry has a right to live at home, but his guardian won’t let him. He has spent thousands of Larry’s money petitioning the court to sell Larry’s house. Larry wants a new guardian, but his lawyer refuses.
Originally posted at :http://www.kasemcares.org/larry_s_story
My friend Larry is now 83. The last almost 4 years of his life has been that of a captive because the Kitsap Superior Court put him into guardianship. It was obvious that his “best friend” was stealing his money and lying to him about his health and friends, but they gave Mr. “Best friend” the guardianship. He brought charges against me when I tried to get Larry help. His lies or pocket book bought the APS agent. The APS agent, Debbie Mark-Coroplongo who is now a GAL, told me; “We can’t let Larry talk to his friends or that will make him sad” and then she filed to put me on the statewide abuse list with a list of false charges, some not even abusive. I’ve been fighting that for 3 years. DSHS threw out all my evidence and quoted the lies of the guardian’s wife who said in court that she worked 2900 hours a month for Larry (97 hours a day.) DSHS denies Due Process to attack the wrong person.
Judge Jeanette Dalton was a friend of Mr. Best Friend and assigned him the guardianship over Larry even though it was already shown that Mr. best Friend was stealing Larry’s money and lying and manipulating him. Larry was given a court appointed GAL, Curtis Coyne, who did not tell him he had rights, but charges him $6000 for him time. Curtis Coyne lived a 5 hour commute away (2 ferries) and there were GALs local. We ask; why did the court hire an out-of-area GAL when there were hundreds of GALs closer? Larry had asked the APS agent for help and she refused. (per court records from Feb 28, 2014).
Larry was transferred to a dementia ward at Park Vista by Bonaventure assisting living Port Orchard because Stafford Suites heard him telling someone on the phone that he wanted to go home and would escape. [*RCW 11.92.190-holding a person against his will in a residential facility unlawful.*] Park Vista was told Larry had dementia and quickly placed him in “memory care” (lockdown ward.) LARRY DOES NOT HAVE DEMENTIA. He was not allowed visitors or calls and they started over drugging him. Larry had no lawyer to represent him. Any friend who reported the abuse to APS was labeled “meddling and manipulating” and was no longer allowed to talk to Larry.
*(It is unlawful, but there is no punishment for doing it.)
Later that year we called the long-term care Ombudsman of Kitsap County, Dana Gargus. (It takes a while to learn what can be done and people are busy with their own problems.) After talking to Larry’s “best friend” (now guardian) Dana Gargus declined to help Larry at all. After I contacted the State Ombudsman she was forced to help Larry and he got his right to return to his house in Woodinville. Then the real torture started. Later she would again refuse to help Larry.
The caregivers provided by Companion Care of Woodinville were told to try to keep Larry isolated from his “manipulating” friends. They would refuse to take him to his Parkinson’s therapy (because “bad people” might show up there) and would screen calls from his friends and discourage visitors. One friend got dragged into court for “helping” Larry after talking to him on the phone once and others were threatened. They set burglar alarms inside his house to keep him under control and finally on his bedroom door. When he got up in the middle of the night 120 db screamed in his ears. He had a visitor (his last) the next day and told her about it and she wrote a letter to court about it to no avail. He had 24 hour “caregivers” who were basically bodyguards-not for him, but to keep his friends away. They took his phone away. They thought that someone might be talking to Larry at night, so they hired a night watchman at Larry’s expense. Finally they locked him in his bedroom. He escaped and ran down the street yelling for help, so they told the police that he had dementia and the police allowed him to be taken back to Park Vista, Port Orchard again.
Back in Port Orchard at Park Vista by Bonaventure he was again locked in the isolation ward without the ability to contact anyone but APS agent Debbie Mark-Corpolongo again. In the APS records it states that he called asking for help and then “records closed.” Someone had, however, managed to get a lawyer for him while he was home, Carla Calogero who wrote an article in a Parkinson’s magazine. Calogero got appointed Michael Longyear, a Certified Professional Guardian (CPG) who allowed the first guardian (whom Larry was wanting to get rid of) take care of Larry’s health care. Longyear proceeded to charge Larry outrageous fees and uses Larry’s money to hire his own firm to bring Larry to court to take away his home and money. Longyear charges $1000 a month for “property management” of 2 vacant properties. No one was allowed to visit Larry except Larry’s “best friend” who takes him to medical appointment and convinces the doctors Larry needs more drugs (Easy to so with Parkinson’s medications.), So at Park Vista Larry was being seriously overdrugged.
Larry’s lawyer? CPG Longyear hired Larry’s lawyer, Carla Calogero, out from under him and the court appointed Paulette Peterson who also has helped violate Larry’s rights and exploits him. She had witnessed the overdosing and the financial embezzlement and wouldn’t tell the court. Both of Larry’s lawyers and his guardian have been on multiple committees for the aging looking like the ultimate defender of the elderly- That’s called a predator. They get the trust of the innocent and then abuse and exploit them.
What seems to be the problem is that the court rubber stamps fees without looking at them. When the guardian does something bad the court can’t do anything for fear of getting exposed. King county defense for the elderly, Page Ulrey, told me that once the court signs for fees, no matter how outrageous they are, there is nothing that can be done to the guardian. It is doubtful that the courts even know guardianship law. –This is what we all innocently assume, but the truth is that it is racketeering. The court and the lawyers are all perfectly aware of what is going on. Those who try to expose it loose their law license or are dragged through years of litigation. The system is entrenched with years of this kind of racketeering, so that they believe they are untouchable, but we can change this if we are brave enough to expose it.
By 2015 Larry was so over drugged at Park Vista he could hardly get a sentence out. Because of fast turnover of caregivers at Park Vista 3 friends got in to visit and witnessed Larry’s body swinging and contorting from the drug over dose. His arms and legs flailing all over. Even though he was in a wheelchair because of breaking his hip (due to the excessive body movement) he could hardly stay in it. He couldn’t get out a complete sentence because of the drugs had such a terrible effect on his mind, yet they brought him more right there while he was already being overdosed. Larry can’t remember Park Vista.
I went to court with testimony and court records showing his being overcharged and over drugged and isolated- 400 pages of backing documentation. His guardian had even written in documents (#108) that he was forcing pills on Larry and “had to” lock him in the dementia unit because someone gave him a “copy of his right and a book on healing.” The Kitsap court judge, Anna Lauire, said she would not do anything. Motion to stop abuse of VA- DENIED. She did tell the guardian to get Larry out of Kitsap before the month was over. (Elections are coming up.) Sometime later the over-drugging stopped. We think a doctor must have found out.
Larry was brought to West Seattle and put in a care house with people from Russia. Foreign caregivers believe that it’s OK to take old people’s rights away. They were told that there were “evil people” out there and Larry was only to have approved visitors. None of his friends were allowed to talk to him. Visitors were turned away. Larry tried to escape in 90 degree heat.
I brought the court papers to the state Ombudsman, Patricia Hunter, and told her what was happening. Shortly after Larry was moved to Shoreline with APS agent and social worker in tow- all who are convinced (or being paid) to believe that I am some evil being from the underworld, so that none will even check on the bad character reports. All are being told by Larry’s guardian that Larry has evil friends and it is important to keep 24 hour watch on Larry. Larry’s new care-givers are also foreign born and gullible. Larry didn’t have a phone and they were “protecting” his address, so they were not in the court records. I told the state Ombudsman and Larry got a cell phone for one month. He is not allowed to go out of the house without a care-giver driving him (except his “best friend.”) Did I mention that Larry’s best friends had written a Trust for Larry giving himself all of Larry’s $1 Million in assets and the wife is the one who can decide if Larry’s Trust money should be “handled” for him? Larry wants his money to go to women’s charities.
The cell phone only lasted one month. They decided to “save Larry money” and he could use the caregiver’s home phone. Then his friend’s calls are being blocked so that Larry’s friends can’t even ring the house. Now all calls are being screened by the guardian, Michael Longyear, or his assistant, Christopher Fast.
Anyone visiting Larry has to sit at the table with the care-giver taking notes. This is illegal and a violation of Larry’s right to privacy, but this is a regular pattern of abusive guardians. Care-givers are from other countries where basic freedoms are denied and they believe that if the guardian says it must be done that they have to do it.
Larry’s lawyer, Paulette Peterson, and Michael Longyear helped write the CPG training manual for WA state and knows that guardians are not allowed to hire their own firms with their ward’s money. Conflict of interest. She knows it, but refuses to help Larry get a different guardian. LONGYEAR has other wards whom he uses to fund his firm with also. I have heard that he sells his ward’s property to his friends at below cost. He is so well known that the courts don’t even check his records anymore. He itemizes everything, including charging Larry for general filing. He charges to talk on the telephone to Larry or anyone else, which is supposed to be covered by his monthly guardianship fee of $1200 pre-approved- over 3 times the state maximum. His actual bills are $2000-12,000 a month, averaging $4500 a month. Normal fees are $200-$400 a month.
Paulette Peterson won’t even tell the court that ALL of Larry’s pension, $55,000 per year is going into Longyear’s pocket in guardianship fees. Is she getting a cut? It wouldn’t matter anyway as King County Commissioner, Carlos Velategui, has approved everything. He had the bills. He knows he is letting Longyear charge 5 times what the next most abusive guardian charges and 15 times what Velategui will approve for those guardians who aren’t special.