Tucson woman given more prison time in elder-abuse case
A Tucson woman who was convicted of stealing thousands of
dollars from an 85-year-old man who died at her hands insisted
Monday she isn't the "cruel and devious" woman she's been portrayed
to be.
Linda Giles, 58, told Judge Christopher Browning she and James
Carafas were "life partners" for 30-plus years, his death has
caused her indescribable pain and she is innocent.
Carafas died in November 2006.
The couple were arguing inside Carafas' Foothills home when it
spilled outside, according to prosecutors. Giles got into Carafas'
truck and made a sharp turn of the wheel, knocking Carafas down and
causing him to be run him over.
Last April, Giles was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison after a
jury convicted her of manslaughter in Carafas' death.
Four months later, a separate jury convicted Giles of abusing
Carafas and stealing from him. Her sentencing was postponed until
Monday while attorneys litigated what Giles should have to pay in
terms of restitution.
During the August trial, Assistant Attorney General John Evans told
jurors Carafas was a lonely, ill widower who was losing his
eyesight and hearing when Giles took advantage of him. She
emotionally abused and intimidated Carafas, and abused her position
of trust and confidence to exploit him financially, Evans
said.
Giles persuaded Carafas to name her his sole beneficiary, put more
than $100,000 into a bank account for her and open a joint account
with her, Evans said. Carafas also put her on the deeds of more
than a dozen rental properties he owned.
On Monday, Browning sentenced Giles to 18.5 years for theft from a
vulnerable adult and 1.75 years for vulnerable-adult abuse and ran
them concurrently to each other, but consecutively to the
manslaughter charge.
Carafas' niece, Maria Kondonijakos told Browning she hasn't been
able to forgive herself for not seeing what Giles was doing and she
spends hours dissecting conversations she had with him. She also
imagines the terror he must have felt in his last moments.
She called Giles a "voracious predator" whom she is still
frightened of.
Evans asked Browning to run the new sentences consecutively to the
manslaughter sentence, a suggestion defense attorney Anthony
Abruzzo said was "beyond the pale."
Evans has characterized Giles as Carafas' caretaker, but the two
were lovers who were "addicted" to each other for more than 30
years, Abruzzo said.
What Carafas did for Giles he did out of love.
"Whatever he gave her, she gave back in different ways," Abruzzo
said.
Browning also ordered Giles to pay $540,000 in restitution to
Kondonijakos and Margaret O'Connell, another of Carafas'
beneficiaries.
Shortly after Giles' arrest, the two women hired attorneys on a
contingent-fee basis to make sure Giles could not gain access to
Carafas' $2 million-plus estate.
The attorneys ultimately presented a bill to the women for $540,000
and they, in turn, asked Browning to order Giles to pay the
bill.
Giles and Abruzzo objected and the matter was litigated for
months.
Browning decided that although the bill was "unreasonable" and
"excessive" given the work that was done by the attorneys, Giles
should have to pay it.
