Jackson, MS—A Canton woman will spend time behind bars for exploitation of a vulnerable person.

Elviolet Brooks, 30, of Canton, was sentenced Monday by Hinds County Circuit Court Judge William Gowan after entering an open plea (meaning she refused the state’s recommended sentence and threw herself on the mercy of the court) to one count exploitation of a vulnerable person.  Judge Gowan sentenced Brooks to three years with two years and three months suspended, followed by three years of supervised probation.  Brooks was immediately taken into custody by the Mississippi Department of Corrections to begin serving her nine months behind bars. 

Brooks pled guilty in June to improperly using the SSI check of a vulnerable person for herself, rather than on the needs of the vulnerable person for whom she had become the representative payee for his SSI benefits.  Brooks admitted to taking approximately $674.00 for her own personal use.

The victim in this case, a mentally disturbed man, was found living in a condemned house with no electricity with the overwhelming stench of a chicken rotting in the kitchen sink.  Investigators discovered that the victim had been left unattended for about six days, during which time he was not given his medication, had not eaten, bathed, nor had any of his needs met to the degree that he required hospitalization.

“There are far too many cases just like this in which unscrupulous individuals prey on vulnerable adults, taking their money and leaving them to fend for themselves,” said Attorney General Jim Hood.  “We will continue to prosecute those who commit this type of crime.” 

This case was investigated by Investigator David Domino, Auditor Gilda Holbrook and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Sue Perry of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.