FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who evaded authorities for three years after he was charged with stealing more than $100,000 in veterans’ benefits from his father has been sent to prison for up to three years.
The Bristol district attorney’s office says 58-year-old Anthony Schmitka, formerly of Norton, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to two counts of larceny from a person older than 60.
Schmitka was charged in 2014 but fled on the day of his trial in March 2016. He was caught in March in Woodstock, Vermont, after police received a tip about his whereabouts.
Authorities say he stole his father’s retroactive veterans’ benefits in February 2013 and spent some of the money on the lottery and at a casino.
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