Woman ordered to pay $30G restitution in theft cases
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » An Upper Darby woman has been sentenced to time served to 23 months with 10 years of probation after pleading guilty to two counts of theft by deception, both felonies of the second degree.
Megan Kelleher, 35, of the 4900 block of State Road in Drexel Hill, entered her negotiated guilty pleas via video conferencing before Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan Monday.
Kelleher’s time served was calculated from Sept. 18, 2020, to April 5. Under the plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Erica Parham and defense counsel Tim Walsh, she agreed to pay $30,000 in restitution to the victim, half up front with the remainder to be paid in installments of $500 per month.
Kelleher initially turned herself in to police in December 2018 on charges that she stole nearly $120,000 from the bank accounts of a 73-year-old woman she had befriended at her apartment complex between July 2017 and November 2018.
She was initially charged with 750 felony counts of identity theft, one for each alleged ATM transaction she made with the victim’s bank card, as well as felony charges of forgery, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and access device fraud and a misdemeanor charge of possession of access device knowing it was counterfeit or altered.
Kelleher had befriended her wheelchair-bound neighbor and they formed a friendship, according to an affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. Kelleher had access to a safe in the other woman’s apartment, where the alleged victim kept an unactivated check card from her bank, the affidavit states.
Kelleher allegedly activated the card and used it to take more than $40,000 from the woman’s savings account and $76,000 from a checking account. Surveillance footage recovered by police allegedly showed Kelleher making 10 transactions at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in one day.
Kelleher posted 10 percent of $100,000 bail following a preliminary arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Christopher Maddox Dec. 4, 2018, according to online court records. Magisterial District Judge Robert Radano increased the bail amount by another $100,000 following a hearing on Feb. 12, 2019, and Kelleher posted an additional 10 percent seven days later. She was taken back into custody last year after missing a court date, which she attributed to a vehicle accident.
Kelleher was also charged under a separate case with counts including theft, forgery, identity theft and filing a fraudulent insurance claim for offenses allegedly committed in July 2017, according to online court records. She pleaded to one count from each case Monday.
Neither Kelleher nor her attorney provided any comments in court Monday.
As part of her sentence, Kelleher will have to begin a drug and alcohol evaluation within 10 days of release and comply with all recommendations, provide a DNA sample to state police, and have no contact with the victim or her power of attorney.
Kelleher is also barred from serving as a fiduciary or otherwise handling funds for anyone 55 years of age or older, under the plea deal.