A Clancy man who admitted stealing tens of thousands of dollars from an elderly woman over a nine-month period appeared in district court September 27. Louis Pocha entered guilty pleas to felony theft, felony exploitation of an old person and felony DUI as part of a plea agreement.
In exchange for his admissions, charges of money laundering, driving with a suspended or revoked license, driving without insurance and driving with an expired vehicle registration were all dropped.
Law enforcement officials said Pocha gained power of attorney over a woman who lived on Old Alhambra Road south of Clancy in October 2015. The woman was later moved to Big Sky Nursing Home in Helena. Pocha paid her bills for a short time but then stopped making payments to the nursing home, where she amassed a debt of $54,600. Pocha also cashed checks for more than $24,700 to various area bars and wrote other checks totaling nearly $15,000 to benefit others or make purchases, say court files.
In a plea deal presented to the court last week, attorneys on both sides recommended Pocha be sentenced to ten years with five suspended for the exploitation conviction, ten years all suspend- ed for the theft, and 13 months in an alcohol treatment program followed by a four-year probation for the DUI. A $5000 fine was also recommended. Judge Luke Berger ordered a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) into Pocha’s background before sentencing. Sentencing will be scheduled after the PSI report is finished.
