Nephew must repay aunt, 90, whom he pauperized
Falls looter gets reparations break
LOCKPORT — In a case the prosecutor described as “a trail of tears,” a Niagara Falls man was sentenced to probation and restitution Tuesday for helping his now-estranged wife steal the life savings and almost all the property of his 90-year-old aunt, leaving her destitute.
Most of the money apparently was blown gambling at Seneca Niagara Casino, although some purchases also were made with the stolen money, Assistant District Attorney Heather A. DeCastro-Sloma said.
Ronald Brdeja, 45, of Chapin Avenue, avoided prison time only because the victim needs money to live out her life. Thus Brdeja, an auto mechanic, has to keep working to pay his share of $59,675 in restitution, DeCastro-Sloma said.
Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza ordered Brdeja to pay back at least $500 a month while on probation for the next five years. Assistant Public Defender Rodney A. Giove said Brdeja earns about $500 a week working at an auto repair shop in Niagara Falls.
“I would love to send you to state prison for the maximum period of time,” Sperrazza warned Brdeja. “I kind of hope you do [miss a payment].”
Brdeja pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to a reduced charge of attempted second-degree grand larceny. The maximum penalty for that is seven years in prison.
Linda Brdeja, 52, of 91st Street, Niagara Falls, is due in court Thursday and will be offered the same plea-bargain. She works at a doctor’s office, the prosecutor said.
Giove said Ronald Brdeja “is devastated by this. He lost his family. His family has disowned him.”
“It just snowballed,” Ronald Brdeja said. “I meant to take care of Aunt Sue.”
The money was stolen between March 2006 and February 2007, once Ronald and Linda obtained a signed power of attorney from Susan Brdeja, who lived in Sloan. Her nephew and his wife later moved her to the 91st Street home.
A letter read in court from Bonnie King, Ronald’s sister, who lives in Florida, charged that Susan Brdeja was basically held incommunicado in the Niagara Falls residence.
King wrote that when family members tried to call Susan, Ronald told them falsely that she had Alzheimer’s disease and wouldn’t know them.
“She’s sharp as a tack,” De- Castro-Sloma said.
The court file includes photos of the interior of the Sloan home, strewn with trash. Some photos show mattresses sliced open in an apparent search for money. The beds, along with the stove and refrigerator, were sold by the defendants, DeCastro- Sloma charged.
Much of the cash was taken via automatic teller machine withdrawals at the casino, she said.
King’s letter said Susan Brdeja’s health insurance was allowed to lapse; her Sloan home was sold privately shortly before it was to have been auctioned in a tax foreclosure; and the defendants even sold her late brother’s World War II Purple Heart.
“After they took her for everything, they dumped her in a Niagara Falls nursing home,” King’s letter charged. The woman is now living on Medicaid in subsidized housing in Erie County.
Susan was asked to write her own letter to the court. “Every time she puts pen to paper, she dissolves in uncontrollable tears,” King wrote. She added she is hoping to add a room to her Florida home so her aunt can live out her life there.
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