Hermantown woman pleads guilty to fraud, exploitation

A Hermantown woman received a probationary sentence today after pleading guilty to financial transaction card fraud and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Jamie Marie Burcar, 31, pleaded guilty to both charges against her in St. Louis County District Court in October.

Judge David Johnson stayed imposition of Burcar’s sentence for three years of supervised probation. Under the conditions of her probation, Burcar must undergo a chemical dependency evaluation and follow any treatment recommendations. She’s prohibited from using alcohol and nonprescribed drugs, is subject to random testing and is not allowed to work in a position of fiduciary responsibility over others.

The defendant was accused of stealing more than $8,000 from four clients while working as a staff member at Blue Water Residential Home at 203 High St. in Duluth.

According to the criminal complaint, an employee of the home contacted Duluth police in January to report that Burcar, who had formerly been employed there, had been stealing money from vulnerable adult residents.

A Blue Water home employee determined that Burcar allegedly had withdrawn money from the bank accounts of four of the home’s clients. Burcar was the home supervisor and had a key to access the lockbox where the ATM cards of the residents were kept.

On Jan. 22, a police officer contacted the home and was informed by another employee that it appeared that Burcar had taken $3,673 from one female resident’s account, $2,799.50 from a man, $1,223 from a woman and $547.20 from another woman. Burcar also is accused of taking $436.91 from the Blue Water residential account without permission.

Police determined that the unauthorized withdrawals allegedly took place between October 2009 and Jan. 27 of this year.

Tags: duluth heights, news, crime, police, health, hermantown, kenwood