Kin of Abandoned Alzheimer’s Patient Pleads Not Guilty to Theft

PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that she stole about $9,000 that was supposed to pay for nursing home care for her father, an Alzheimer’s patient found abandoned at a racetrack last March.

Sue Gifford was indicted on 20 criminal charges--15 counts of first-degree theft, four counts of unlawfully obtaining public assistance and one count of unsworn falsification.

Gifford’s father, John Kingery, 82, was found at a dog racetrack near Post Falls, Ida. The labels had been cut from his clothing and a note misidentifying him was attached to his wheelchair. A bag of diapers was found next to his chair.

Prosecutor Steve Todd said the charges accuse Gifford of concealing her father’s pension checks when she applied for public assistance. Medicaid is supposed to pay only for the parts of Kingery’s nursing home bills that his pension does not cover.

“The charges allege what some people would call Medicaid fraud,” Todd said.

Gifford was indicted Wednesday by a Multnomah County grand jury. She was freed Thursday after agreeing not to leave the area or to transfer any assets except to pay her lawyer.

Gifford and her attorney, Joe Gorciak, declined to talk to reporters at the hearing.

Kingery, a retired Ford Motor Co. employee who also suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was a patient at the Laurelhurst Care Center in Portland for 18 months. Gifford removed him from the nursing home on March 9.

Hal Elliott, Laurelhurst’s administrator, said Gifford removed her father after clashing with the nursing home over Kingery’s $600-a-month pension. Elliott said Gifford refused to turn over money from the pension to offset Medicaid costs.

Gifford then placed her father at the Regency Park Living Center in Washington County. On March 21, according to John Browning, general manager of the center, Gifford removed her father from the center. Kingery was found later that day at the racetrack.