Credit: Bristol Township police
A woman who stole thousands from a Bristol Township resident she was supposed to help was sentenced to jail for her crimes.
Kelly Nichole Sharkey, 30, who has recent addresses in Bristol Township and Bradford County, was sentenced by Bucks County Judge Diane Gibbons Thursday to one year less a day to two years less a day in the Bucks County Correctional Facility. In addition, Sharkey was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $17,421.19 in restitution to the victim and two banks, according to the district attorney’s office.
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In November 2019, Bristol Township police learned that a friend of Sharkey’s grandmother, who the 30 year old was hired to help, found several unauthorized transactions on her accounts. Detective William O’Keefe obtained records from the victim’s banks and checked surveillance footage from two Wawa locations and a tobacco shop. Sharkey was seen at the businesses making unauthorized purchases, authorities said.
Bank records pulled by police showed Sharkey made 50 unauthorized transactions for $3,720 on the victim’s credit card between June to December 2019 and $13,701.19 in unauthorized transactions on the victim’s debit card from June 2019 through November 2019.
Investigators found that some of the victim’s credit card transactions were used to put money in a Bucks County Correctional Facility inmate account belonging to Sharkey’s boyfriend and father of her child.
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The victim has trouble speaking and running errands after she had her tongue removed as part of cancer treatment. She hired Sharkey in spring 2019 to assist her, providing the 30 year old with her debit card and credit card to make household purchases. The woman who suffered from cancer never gave Sharkey authorization to use the cards for personal spending.
The victim reportedly confronted Sharkey before going to police and Sharkey denied making the charges.
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The victim said in an impact statement in court Thursday that it was hard for her to trust anyone after Sharkey’s actions.
Sharkey pleaded guilty to access device fraud and theft by unlawful taking in September in the case.
Sharkey was sentenced in five other cases Thursday.
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“She pleaded guilty to retail theft, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia for an October 2017 arrest at a Walmart in Tullytown; harassment for a September 2020 child custody case; driving under the influence for a Bensalem Township arrest in May 2020; retail theft and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia for a May 2020 arrest at a CVS in Bristol Township; and retail theft for June 2020 arrest at a Wawa in Bristol Township,” prosecutors said.
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