A former in-home caregiver plead guilty Friday afternoon after it was discovered she stole thousands of dollars in cash and credit cards from the elderly woman she cared for.

Ruth A. Jordan plead guilty to one count of theft and two counts of forgery.

The victim’s daughter, Julie Grohovsky, hired Ruth in July of 2017 after her mother had broken her hip while living in Austintown.

Grohovsky said it all began when she couldn’t locate her mother’s cash or credit cards.

She questioned Ruth, known to the family as Annette, if she had seen the cash and cards, and she claimed she had not.

Julie then discovered through her mother’s credit card records that she had acquired a balance of thousands of dollars.

The purchases made were sent to Jordan's address in Newton Falls.

“Most of these purchases were made through the internet, and my mother does not have a computer or smartphone, so I knew my mother could not have made these purchases,” said Grohovsky.

Investigators also found that Jordan had been skimming money from the victim when they would use the ATM and go grocery shopping. 

Investigators say Jordan even put her own utility bills on the victims checking account and used a forged signature to authorize the payment.

“My mom, who is 89, could have never put this all together on her own. So, you know you are being manipulated because that person knows the victim is elderly and a widow and they might get away with it,” said Grohovsky.

It was found that Jordan had stolen around $7,500 from the victim.

“It’s really devastating. My mother, she felt terrible. She thought Annette was her friend, and we felt terrible because we trusted Annette.”

Jordan was ordered to pay a little over $5,000 in restitution and will serve one year of probation.