Minnesota Man Who Stole $149,000 from Elderly Victim as Power of Attorney Sent to Federal Prison

Hamilton Girard, age 65, of Stillwater, Minnesota, was sentenced March 19, 2024, to 4 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to Wire Fraud and fined $10,000.    

Evidence in the case revealed that in February 2020, Girard was designated power of attorney for an elderly person diagnosed with early onset dementia.  Girard used his position as power of attorney to misappropriate approximately $149,000 of the victim’s funds. Girard signed and issued unauthorized checks from the victim’s personal checking account to purchase items such as home improvement and home construction-related goods and services for his own benefit, including the installation of a pool.

Girard was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 4 months’ imprisonment and fined $10,000.  He was ordered to make $115,171.40 in restitution to the victim.  He must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Girard was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal a date yet to be set.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 23-3015.

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