The former owner of a mental health residential facility licensed by D.C., and who was also a former president of the Maryland PTA, has been ordered to jail for financial wrongdoing.
LaTonja Carrera, 48, of Camp Springs, Maryland, admitted to accessing the bank accounts of a vulnerable 73-year-old adult in her care and using the money to pay her credit cards and personal utility bills.
Carrera was sentenced Monday by a D.C. Superior Court judge to 12 months incarceration with 10 months suspended. She also received three years of probation.
Last year, while Carrera was heading the Maryland PTA, the National PTA organization revoked the state’s charter amid allegations of theft.
But it was as head of M&M Residential Services, Inc. that Carrera pleaded guilty last December to making five separate transactions totaling more than $3,000 from the bank account of her client.
As a condition of probation, Carrera is prohibited from managing the money of any individual other than immediate family members.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. said the case is part of the effort to crack down on crimes against seniors and vulnerable adults.
