A Missoula woman has been convicted of bilking her Alzheimer's-stricken mother out of more than $120,000 by using a reverse mortgage on the elderly woman's home.

District Judge Karen Townsend found Paulette Homer guilty Friday after a bench trial this week and scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 6.

Prosecutors charged Homer with exploitation of an older person or a person with developmental disabilities after the scheme came to light in 2009 when Homer's brother and sister filed a report of elder abuse.

A police investigation determined Homer received a check for $141,308 from the reverse mortgage in 2008 and then wrote checks totaling $120,593. The defense argued the money was a gift from Homer's mother.

Associated Press

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