Cops: Evidence of fraud scheme found after 4 freed from cellar

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

The landlord of the apartment building at first thought a circuit breaker had tripped when he went to the basement Saturday and found all the lights were out. Then he realized all six bulbs had been removed, and he heard dogs barking inside a boiler room, its door chained shut.

He removed the chain, stepped into the dank, foul-smelling room and lifted a pile of blankets. Several sets of human eyes stared back at him.

Turgut Gozleveli had stumbled upon four mentally disabled adults, all weak and malnourished, and one chained to the boiler.

He also may have stumbled upon a vast scheme — stretching from Philadelphia to Norfolk Va., and West Palm Beach, Fla. — to steal the Social Security disability checks of defenseless and vulnerable people, authorities said.

Philadelphia police on Saturday arrested three adults staying in an apartment upstairs, including the suspected ringleader, Linda Ann Weston, 51, who had been convicted of murder in a 1981 starvation death.

Detectives also found dozens of ID cards, power- of-attorney forms and other documents in the apartment, suggesting the alleged theft scheme involved more than just the four captives.

“Without a doubt. This is just the beginning of this investigation,” Lt. Ray Evers said Monday. “We think she’s been doing this for quite some time.”

Exactly how long, how much money the scheme brought in, precisely how the disabled were deceived, and how many people in all were victimized are still unclear, investigators said. The FBI has joined the investigation.

Weston was charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and other offenses, with bail set at $2.5 million. Also arrested and jailed were the man she described as her boyfriend, Eddie “the Rev. Ed” Wright, 50, and 47-year-old Gregory Thomas.

“Talk about preying on the weak and weary,” Evers said. “You can’t get any lower than this person.”

As of Monday, the defendants did not appear to have lawyers.

The victims, a woman and three men, were found in a crawl space that reeked of urine and was too shallow for an adult to stand up. There were mattresses and blankets, but the only food found was a container of orange juice. The adults shared their space with three dogs.

The victims, age 29 to 41, had the mental capacity of 10-year-olds, along with some physical disabilities, authorities said.

Neighbors said the defendants and their alleged captives had arrived in an SUV from West Palm Beach, Fla., about two weeks ago, though it does not appear the victims spent the entire time in the basement.

Danyell “Nicky” Tisdale, a block captain in the neighborhood, said that about a week ago, a man and woman and four mentally disabled adults had a yard sale, selling piles of shoes, jackets and other clothing on the sidewalk.

Since the arrests, police slowly and patiently have been trying to elicit information from the alleged captives. All four were treated at hospitals and placed with social-service agencies.

The woman had been reported missing by her family in Philadelphia in 2005, police said. One of the men also was from Philadelphia, and a second one from North Carolina. Their relatives were contacted. Police were having trouble finding family members for the fourth victim, 40-year-old Herbert Knowles.

According to an investigative report obtained by The Associated Press, Knowles was reported missing in Norfolk, Va., in December 2008 after a mental-health case worker couldn’t reach him and family members failed to hear from him.

The case worker reported that Knowles’ Social Security checks were going to a Philadelphia address.

Knowles’ government benefits were stopped at one point after his mail was forwarded to Philadelphia, but Weston took him to a Philadelphia social-service agency in 2008 and showed identification, and the checks resumed, Norfolk police said.

Weston was convicted of murder and voluntary manslaughter in the death of her sister’s boyfriend. According to news accounts, Weston and her sister beat him and locked him in a closet because he refused to support the unborn child he had fathered. He died of starvation weeks later.

It was not clear from court records whether Weston served any prison time.