Denise Bates sentenced; 2 years for stealing from disabled uncle
Denise Bates
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Denise Bates to two years in prison plus another nine months at the House of Correction. This, after she pleaded guilty to stealing at least $300,000 from her uncle who lives with a developmental disability, functioning at the level of a 16-year-old.
Bates, 61, faced two theft charges and a misdemeanor count of "negligently subject an individual at risk to abuse." In December 2022, Bates pleaded guilty to one of the theft charges and the misdemeanor neglect count. The second theft charge was dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
Bates was supposed to be her elderly uncle's caretaker as his power of attorney.
Case details
In October 2018, family members say Dale Gustafson was mugged outside his home near 82nd and Burleigh. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and was taken to Froedtert's rehab facility in Menomonee Falls, where doctors concluded he'd need around-the-clock care.
Court documents say Bates, his niece and power of attorney, was trained to provide that care with her ex-boyfriend in March 2019.
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The complaint says investigators determined Bates was stealing from her uncle as far back as November 2015. It says she wrote herself and her ex-boyfriend fraudulent checks and opened bank accounts in Dale's name with herself as an authorized user.
Bates was also accused of using Dale's money to pay for her debt on 30 credit cards and draining his investment accounts that he'd been building as a city of Milwaukee employee for 44 years.