A 98-year-old resident of The Villages was shocked to learn her bank account had been emptied of $104,372 by her granddaughter.
Jessica Leigh Lewis, 35, was arrested last week on a felony warrant accusing her of stealing from someone over 65. Lewis was released from a Florida prison and moved in with his grandmother on the Historic Villages side. In addition to a previous grand theft conviction, Lewis served time on multiple drug charges.
The elderly woman went to Sun Trust Bank to cash her Social Security check but was told there were insufficient funds in her account, according to a probable cause affidavit from the police department of Lady Lake. The villager discovered that Lewis had made withdrawals from the account using an ATM card she had given to Lewis. Withdrawals ranged from $221.81 to $30,557.
The grandmother ordered Lewis to leave her house. Among the items Lewis left were letters from the bank that Lewis had intercepted and not shown to his grandmother.
Lewis had linked his PayPal account to his grandmother’s bank account.
Lewis also used the money from the bank account to pay for phone calls to her boyfriend, Jermaine Harvard of Eustis, 40, who has been held in Marion County Jail since August on a federal drug charge. Lewis also put money in the Harvard commissioner’s account at the prison.
Lewis was sentenced to Lake County Jail on $15,000 bond.
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