Woman who stole from elderly released

The former manager of a Coeur d’Alene assisted living center who confessed to stealing thousands of dollars from two elderly residents under her care was released from jail Monday after serving nine months.

First District Court Judge Fred Gibler said Mary Jane Vann, 56, hasn’t been in any trouble during her jail stay and that she fulfilled her deal with the state to help with the investigation of the Fairwinds Retirement Community.

Vann will spend five years on supervised probation and must attend any treatment, substance abuse or mental health classes invoked by her probation officer.

“I still bear a great deal of remorse for the crimes I’ve committed,” Vann told the judge before the ruling. “I want to be a contributing member of society – not a detriment, not a taker, not a user.”

In July, Gibler sentenced Vann on two felony counts of grand theft after Vann, under suspicion for more than a year, confessed to stealing $30,000 in jewelry from one resident at Fairwinds Retirement Community and stealing $3,000 in cash from another resident.

At the time, the sentencing did little to address the outrage felt by people who think they or their families have been hurt by Vann. The same was true with her release.

Vann’s attorney, Gary Amendola, told the judge that some people believe her confession came “way too late” and was “way too little” and they wouldn’t be satisfied even if she spent the entire sentence in prison.

“She will continue to atone,” Amendola said. “It’s time for her to move on.”

In a separate, civil lawsuit against Vann, a jury in December awarded former Fairwinds resident Lucille Huber more than $3 million in punitive damages to be paid by Vann and Leisure Care, the parent company of Fairwinds Retirement Community, which owns retirement homes throughout the West.

Leisure Care and Fairwinds, 2340 W. Seltice Way, were ordered to pay $1.5 million each in damages, and Vann is to pay $30,000. Former Fairwinds marketing director Mary Ward is to pay $3,500. Huber also was awarded another $65,000 in restitution and damages.

A number of residents and former residents – or their family and friends – began complaining about Fairwinds in May 2003. There were reports about residents being improperly medicated, being manipulated to turn away from family and of improper access to personal finances. Complainants said they found it especially frightening that the manager who took their complaints – Vann – was a key player in the manipulation and mistreatment of Fairwinds residents.

Vann was fired in June 2003 for her failure to have proper Idaho documentation to manage a retirement center. She later confessed to stealing jewelry or skimming money from savings accounts of Fairwinds residents – including Huber.