Osceola deputies: Gypsy family took advantage of older veterans

A family of Gypsies faces exploitation charges after Osceola County Sheriff’s deputies say they were scamming elderly men, an arrest report said.

Lisa Stevens, her brother, Butch Stevens, and their mother, Dianne Stevens, conspired to steal veterans’ Social Security and welfare checks, investigators with the Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office found during a sevenmonth investigation.

The family stole more than $100,000 from an 86-year-old veteran over two-and-a-half years and forced him to sign over his house to them, deputies allege.

Family members, whom authorities described as Gypsies, also known as Roma, used the money to enrich themselves, including buying phones and expensive dinners, deputies said.

All the while, the suspects barely fed or clothed the victims despite taking their money, deputies said.

The investigation began in March when one of the suspects reported one of the victims missing from a home near Kissimmee.

But it turned out the victim was trying to run away, deputies said. He told deputies they were exploiting him.

He also said the Stevens were taking advantage of three other men living in the home.

One of the men, a 71-year-old veteran, was suffering from schizophrenia and was in a “state of confusion,” deputies said. Family members took more than $56,000 from him, deputies said.

“[The victim] stated they buy clothes for themselves, however they never buy him anything with his own money,” the arrest report said. “They only gave him one shirt and pair of pants, which he was wearing at the moment.”

Family members are caught on jail-recorded phone calls with each other talking about scamming the victims and not letting them run away, deputies said.

The report cited cases spanning a decade from New York to South Florida. The Kissimmee Police Department also has pending cases against other family members, the report said.

Lisa and Brad Stevens are at the Osceola County Jail without bond. Dianne Stevens is at the Osceola County Jail on a $200,000 bond.