Patricia Hall, right, and her attorney, Daniel Sabol, smile after learning she would not be sent to prison. Hall pleaded guilty to first-degree felony theft for stealing more than $5 million from an elderly relative. She was recently sentenced to 90 days in jail for the theft.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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The local woman who stole more than $5 million from an elderly woman will spend three months in jail.
Patricia Hall, 75, of 18550 Paver Barnes Rd., was sentenced recently to 90 days in jail, five years of community control and 500 hours of community service. In January, Hall pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a felony of the first degree.
Union County Common Pleas Court Judge Don Fraser said that while the theft was “more serious” than most thefts, Hall has no criminal record and is a very low risk to offend again. He said that while Hall caused “serious economic harm” he doesn’t believe she meant to hurt the victims and she has shown genuine remorse.
He said that if Hall violates her community control, she could face as many as 11 years in prison.
Howard Rockhold and his wife, Mary Rockhold, owned a stone quarry in York Center and, according to Union County Prosecutor David Phillips, had become wealthy as a result. The pair had no children of their own but was close to extended family members. The husband and wife eventually moved into a local nursing home. During that time, the Rockholds gave Hall power of attorney over their finances.
Hall was also named as the beneficiary of their bank account when they passed. After Howard Rockwell died and while Mary Rockhold was in hospice care, Hall met with a banker who said that because Hall was both power of attorney and beneficiary, she could use the bank account for her personal affairs.
When Mary Rockhold died in December 2020, Fay Barry, her niece, was selected as executrix.
“In executing Mary’s will, she came across some discrepancies she couldn’t explain,” Phillips said.
Barry and her attorney met with Phillips and investigators. Phillips said that in all, Hall allegedly stole $5.29 million, “mostly cash.”
Barry told Fraser that Mary Rockhold never trusted Hall. She said she has “gone through hell cleaning up the mess” that Hall left behind. She said she is leaving her job because the process has “broken” her.
“She took what she wanted,” Barry said, arguing that Hall never cared for the Rockholds and has not shown true remorse.
Defense attorney Daniel Sabol said his client is sorry and “wishes nothing but good will to the other side of the family.”
Sabol acknowledged the banker’s advice as “mistaken and wrong.”
He said his client was open about her actions, even declaring the money on her taxes.
“It just doesn’t make sense to do this if she was doing it with the intent to steal,” Sabol said.
Hall agreed. She told the judge that her intent was not the steal the money, but to use it, thinking she had the right to do so.
“I didn’t know I was doing a criminal offense when I took the money. I know it now,” she said.
She added, “I had no intention of harming them.”
The defense attorney said both sides agreed that Hall had made restitution as part of a “fair and equitable restitution in the civil matter.”
Sabol said the bad advice from the banker and the restitution did not excuse the crime, but they should serve to “significantly substantially mitigate” the punishment.
Fraser agreed. He said that without the restitution in the civil settlement, “this case is a prison sentence all day long.”
Hall was originally indicted on one count of aggravated theft, one count of theft from a person in a protected class and six counts of money laundering.
Phillips said there have been other multi-million dollar thefts in the county, “but this is the largest we have seen in a while.”