May 26, 2015
North Tonawanda liquor store owner gets probation in $215,000 theft from elderly aunt
Donald E. Gubbins owned and operated a liquor store in North Tonawanda.
When the business started losing money a few years ago, he made a bad decision. Instead of closing the store and trying to sell it, he started taking money from his elderly aunt’s bank account to keep the business going, prosecutors said.
Gubbins, 65, of Webster Street, North Tonawanda, stole $215,121 from Norma Gubbins’ account between Jan. 1, 2008, and Jan. 1, 2014, by abusing the power of attorney that his 87-year-old aunt had granted him.
His aunt, who had no children, was living in a nursing home in Erie County at the time. She died there about three weeks ago.
Gubbins pleaded guilty last year to second-degree grand larceny. On Tuesday, he was placed on five years’ probation and ordered to pay full restitution. As a condition of probation, State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski ordered Gubbins to sell the Webster Street building that housed his liquor store within a year. He also ordered him to sell a Niagara County condominium in which he has an ownership interest.
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