A woman convicted of operating an unlicensed personal care home in Georgia has received a 20-year prison sentence on neglect and exploitation charges.
Michelle Oliver, the former owner and operator of Miracle One Care Center in Hiram, GA, was convicted last week following a seven-day jury trial in Dougherty County on 51 counts of financial exploitation of a disabled adult, Michelle Oliver, the former owner and operator of Miracle One Care Center in Hiram, GA, was convicted last week following a seven-day jury trial in Dougherty County on 51 counts of financial exploitation of a disabled adult, one count of operating an unlicensed personal care home, one count of willful deprivation of an elder person, seven counts of willful deprivation of a disabled adult, one count of operating an unlicensed personal care home and one count of willful deprivation of an elder person.
Prosecutors alleged that Oliver received more than $32,000 between December 2016 and September 2017 after falsely claiming she provided housing, meals and other services.
Judge Victoria Darrisaw handed down a 20-year sentence, the first seven years to be served in prison. Following her release, Oliver is prohibited from involvement with any businesses or organizations that provide care to others, according to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
Prosecutors alleged that she moved several people from the Atlanta area to a series of duplexes in Albany, GA, in December 2016. An investigation into Oliver’s business was launched following a complaint filed with the Georgia Department of Human Services Adult Protect Services office.
Investigations over the next several months by DHS Adult Protective Services, the Healthcare Facility Regulation Division of the Georgia Department of Community Health and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reportedly found that residents were left on their own in “dirty duplexes” with little to no furniture, no air conditioning, broken fixtures and little in the way of clean clothing.
A cook was hired to provide a meal in the morning before leaving for the day. Residents were found begging from neighbors and at nearby stores on a daily basis after Oliver took their monthly payments from their financial payee, who pleaded guilty to charges last year.
“Michelle Oliver preyed upon some of our state’s most vulnerable and in-need citizens,” Carr said in a statement. “She systematically neglected those she had promised to help, all while taking their money but leaving them with nothing in return.”
Residents were removed in 2017 from the duplexes, many of which were deemed by the Albany Code Enforcement as unfit for human occupation.
