Tupelo Elderly Care Home Owner Sentenced

Jackson, Miss.- Demetria Hooper Donelson, 45, of Saltillo, has been sentenced for felony exploitation of a vulnerable person, Attorney General Jim Hood announced today.

Donelson appeared Thursday before Lee County Circuit Court Judge James L. Roberts, Jr. and entered an open plea for felony exploitation of a vulnerable person. An open plea means the defendant refuses to accept the state’s recommendation and instead throws himself or herself at the mercy of the court. As a result, Judge Roberts sentenced Donelson to 10 years, which was suspended, in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Donelson was ordered to pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $38,797. The defendant had $17,378.70 to pay towards restitution at the time of the plea, leaving a balance of $21,418.30 which is to be paid in monthly installments of $500 beginning in March 2016. Judge Roberts further ordered that she serve four years of supervised probation, during which time she is to pay the outstanding restitution. Additionally, Donelson must pay $250 to Crime Victim’s Compensation Fund.

At the time the crime was committed, Donelson was the owner and operator of Hannahome Personal Care Home in Tupelo. She pled guilty to gaining access to the account of a vulnerable person in her care and withdrawing approximately $38,797 and converting it to her own use.

“Mississippians deserve every assurance that their loved ones will be appropriately cared for in nursing facilities, and we will continue to prosecute anyone who is caught stealing from our most vulnerable citizens,” said Attorney General Jim Hood. “We thank Judge Roberts for the sentence and for making this defendant pay back every dollar she stole, and we appreciate Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson and his deputies for their assistance with this case.”

This case was investigated by Joe Sanderson with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General’s Office and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney Generals Mark McClinton and Sue Perry.