Man with power of attorney accused of stealing money

A Watertown man with power of attorney for a woman in her 90s stole more than $232,000 from her, Watertown police charged Tuesday.

William D. O'Brien, 70, of 335 S. Rutland St., was arrested on a felony charge of second-degree grand larceny. He was released without bail in Watertown City Court to await grand jury action.

A police document filed in court alleges an audit shows that between March 2005 and March 28, 2008, the day of her death, Mr. O'Brien wrote checks on the account of Sophia G. Eaton for his personal use. No information was available from police Tuesday to indicate whether Mr. O'Brien was related to Mrs. Eaton, or how he obtained power of attorney. He had been her neighbor on South Rutland Street since about 1978, according to city directories.

Mrs. Eaton, 325 S. Rutland St., was 95 when she died. She was survived only by cousins. Her husband, Thomas S. Eaton, was a surveyor employed by the city. He died in 1980.

The arrest Tuesday marks the second time Mr. O'Brien has been linked to an embezzlement. He was sentenced in July 1990 in U.S. District Court, Syracuse, to four months in jail for a $20,000 theft. While president of the Fort Drum Credit Union board of trustees, he had employees give him four checks totaling $20,000 without any documentation for repayment, the U.S. attorney's office charged.

His sentence in that case also required four months of in-home confinement and three years of supervised release.