A 63-yearold Helena woman convicted of exploiting an elderly man and living off of his income until he was nearly destitute has been sentenced to three years in prison and must pay $100,000 in restitution.

A jury convicted Maureen Molina in May, and District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock sentenced her last week to 10 years in prison with seven years suspended.

Court records say Molina met the man in 1996 when he was about 80 years old.  At the time, he was managing his own finances, owned his home free and clear and had about $30,000 in savings.

Friends of the man brought Molina to the attention of the state Adult Protective Services agency in November 2008, and an investigation revealed that she had defrauded him of more than $110,000.  The man, who died in January at the age of 95, also owed a large debt to various credit card companies.

Molina was accused of using the man's credit card at an ATM machine beginning in September 2004 to withdraw "substantial" funds and of persuading him to take out a home equity loan that eventually totaled about $116,000 to remodel his residence.  The inves t igat ion, which was j o i n e d by t h e Montana Department of Justice, found that it did not appear that that much money went toward the remodel.

Molina had become the man's primary caregiver, had power of attorney and was going to inherit all he owned when he died.