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Park Place Assisted Living
QUESTION: Medicine Switch at Assisted Living Facility under Investigation
The Steele County Sheriff's Office is investigating a medicine switch at an
assisted living facility in Owatonna, Minnesota.
The switch left residents at Park Place Apartments without their prescription
pain killers.
Authorities say Park Place officials reported last month that someone had
replaced the pain killer Vicodin with Tylenol pills.
Though the incident was reported to the sheriff's office on July 9, tenants of
the facility and their families were not told about the drug switch until
Tuesday -- more than a month after the switch occurred.
In a letter to the tenants and family members, Park Place director Jennifer
Redman says it appeared that some medication was taken from the facility's
central storage unit.
She says no one was known to have been harmed because of the switch.
ANSWER: Attorney Sentenced to Nearly Four Years for Embezzling
A man who preyed on people already troubled by hard times has been ordered to
pay them back -- and do some hard time himself.
In federal court Wednesday, with his back facing the people he swindled, Stephen
Rondestvendt apologized from the bottom of my heart, but it wasnt nearly
enough for the former clients who came to see him sentenced.
No, Im not happy, victim Robert Zaccardi said. Were not happy, but we got
most of it back. Thats the way the system works, aint much you can do about
it.
Robert and Myrna Zaccardi say they were robbed of more than $100,000. In
Wednesdays settlement, they got $72,000.
Their former attorney Stephen Rondestvedt was given 46 months in prison, and
ordered to pay back a total of nearly $800,000.
Most of his victims like the Zaccardis were vulnerable. Most hired him for
help with workers compensation claims, and most were talked into placing money
from settlements into fake investments.
He honestly feels bad about what happened, Rondestvedts lawyer Tom Shiah
said.
Rondestvedt spent the money on himself. At least $200,000 of the money he
embezzled paid for improvements on his South Minneapolis home.
And he knows that these people had put trust in him and he feels terrible about
it. He really does, Shiah said.
Rondestvedt pleaded guilty last October to two counts of mail fraud
acknowledging there were at least 13 victims.
But not every victim was in on the settlement. Therese Hackenmueller said
Rondestvedt approached her when she was in the hospital struggling to get her
insurance company to pay for back surgery.
I was extremely vulnerable physically and emotionally.
She says she was forced to settle for less than she deserved and Wednesday,
she was hoping she would at least get an apology.
I lost a lot of hope, I lost a lot of dreams, she said.
Rondestvedt will begin his sentence in September. Wednesday, he was supposed to
be free on bond after the court hearing, but he was immediately cuffed by U.S.
Marshals and later arrested by Richfield Police.
He was then charged with a new count of felony theft by swindle. On top of
everything else, he is now accused of pocketing money that was supposed to pay
off a loan when he sold his Ford Expedition.
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