A 36-year-old Vero Beach woman facing charges of stealing at least $26,000 from an elderly Marbrisa woman she was hired to care for has waived her right to a speedy trial – which will allow her attorney more time to study the charges and prepare her defense.
Fabiola Palominos, 1445 17th Court, was arrested Aug. 29 and charged with “exploitation of elderly or disabled adult of $20,000 or more, but less than $100,000,” a felony, according to her arrest warrant.
Attorney Robert B. Meadows, who is representing Palominos, made the motion to waive her right to a speedy trial on Oct. 2 during a hearing before Judge Cynthia Cox.
A private docket call has been scheduled for Nov. 27 to allow attorneys to discuss the case and give Cox a timeframe for when they might be ready to go to trial.
Palominos, a certified nurse’s assistant, insists she is innocent and says she plans to eventually enter a “not guilty” plea.
Palominos was initially arrested in early August and charged with stealing less than $5,000 after the alleged victim, Wendy Church, 78, of 100 Carmel Court, and a Merrill Lynch fraud investigator contacted police about concerns that Palominos was stealing from Merrill. Police found the suspicions credible and took Palominos in custody.
A second warrant was issued in late August and new charges filed after investigators found evidence of additional wrongdoing by Palominos. It is alleged that she racked up personal charges on Church’s credit card, forged her name on checks and altered the amount of checks made out to her.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived at Palominos home with the second warrant to arrest her, she initially resisted going with the officers.
She was charged with resisting an officer without violence. Meadows entered a not guilty plea for the resisting charge at an Oct. 8 hearing and a docket call hearing in the case has been scheduled for Nov. 7.
