SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 22, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — State officials on Thursday filed 22 charges alleging financial exploitation, neglect and licensing violations against the father-son management team of Evergreen Place in Midvale.
The charges allege more than $50,000 in misappropriated rent money in 2022 from five representative victims who lived in the residential care facility along with 12 other tenants. Authorities began investigations in January of 2022 when the furnace failed and sewage flooded the basement and living quarters at Evergreen, court documents say.
“Today, the Medicaid Fraud and Patient Abuse Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office filed multiple charges against two former managers of Evergreen Place in Midvale,” says a news release from the Utah Attorney General’s office. “The charges involve neglect, unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, financial exploitation, and licensing violations.”
Jorge Gustavo Gonzalez Sr., 54, and son Ignacio Gonzalez-Villarruel, 23, the AG’s office said, are each charged with five counts of intentional financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, second and third-degree felonies, and five misdemeanor charges of intentional abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult, as well as one count of licensing violation endangering persons in the Human Services Program, a Class A misdemeanor.
“Investigators found that the Evergreen facility was unlicensed, even though 17 mentally impaired adult men lived there. Residents endured unsafe, unsanitary conditions, insect infestations, overcrowding, inadequate staffing, and a lack of food and proper medical care. The charges are based on five representative victims chosen from 17 residents.”
A United Fire Authority fire marshal also cited several safety violations related to smoke detectors, extension cords, exposed wiring, and improperly labeled and accessible exit signs and doors. During this time, the defendants collected rent payments between $1,000 and $1,400 per month per resident.
Investigation was led by the Unified Police Department and the state Adult Protective Services Division. Both defendants are charged with 11 identical charges. Counts 1 and 2 for each man of second-degree felony financial exploitation total $18,000 in rents “unjustly or improperly used or managed … for the profit or advantage of someone other than the vulnerable adult.”
