Woman Gets Probation For Illegally Renting Out Dead Neighbor's House
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A woman who pleaded guilty to forging documents in order to take over her neighbor's estate was sentenced Tuesday afternoon.
Mary Mechelli was initially charged with theft, forgery and tampering with public records following a year-long investigation by the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.
When she was arrested as a result of a grand jury indictment in 2013, Mechelli wanted nothing to do with reporters.
The indictment said she pilfered from the estate of an elderly McKeesport neighbor, Margaret Dorn, who died in 2010.
Mechelli is accused of forging the woman's will and power of attorney documents and collecting nearly $10,000 from renting out the dead woman's house, even though Mechelli didn't own it.
One tenant was Ray Conway.
"She has the devil inside of her," Conway said in 2013 of Mechelli. "I believe she has the devil in her."
But in court Tuesday, a plea agreement resulted in her being sentenced to two years of probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution to the woman's estate in the amount of $1,764.
That's the final accounting of what was missing from the estate, according to defense attorney Pat Thomassey.
"I think they understood that this wasn't as severe, I think, as they thought at first blush to tell you the truth. Mary took care of this woman for 30 years," said Thomassey. "She had no family. She lived across the street. Ms. Mechelli checked on her every single day to see if she's all right. There was never a problem."
One element of the case was an attorney who was not indicted but named in the indictment who Mechelli believed was handling certain legal matters.
"Partly that was the problem," said Thomassey. "She thought that somebody else was taking care of the legal matter so to speak, and I think this was a fair outcome. She'll do fine. She's never been in trouble before."
When Judge David Cashman asked Mechelli if she had anything to say, she answered, "Nobody was there for this woman for 30 years. She was my neighbor. I took care of her."
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