Boynton area couple take plea deal
WEST PALM BEACH — A suburban Boynton Beach couple have been placed on probation, barred from working with the elderly and ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution after being accused of stealing money from an 87-yearold woman who was suffering from severe dementia.
Franklin David Squires, 59, and Cindy Heller, 60, both pleaded guilty in their best interest Monday to charges of exploitation of an elderly person and money laundering in connection with money missing from bank accounts of their neighbor, 87-yearold Belle Winters.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes withheld adjudication before placing them both on probation for four years.
Howard Gale, who had travelled from Connecticut to testify against the couple in connection with his mother’s missing money, said he was disappointed they weren’t punished more severely. Winters died in 2015 shortly after Heller and Squires were charged.
“If it was up to me, I would have sent them to prison,” Gale said. “When you take advantage of an old person or a kid ... you lose your right to live in society.”
But, he said, at least Kastrenakes barred them from working with the elderly or disabled.
As his mother’s health declined, he said he hired Heller, then Squires, who lived next door, to care for her.
In January 2015, he discovered her bank accounts had been cleared out. Palm Beach County sheriff ’s detectives said they traced the money to accounts held by Squires and Heller.