Far Rockaway Health Aide Pleads Guilty to Stealing Coins

A home health aide from Far Rockaway admitted in court on Wednesday after she tried to flee the country that she stole rare coins valued at more than $130,000 from an 82-year-old client, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

Sonia Walsh, 44, pleaded guilty to the top count of grand larceny in the second degree in exchange for a promised sentence of 1 ¾ to 5 ¼ years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 1.

“This defendant tried to run from the consequences of her crime against a senior citizen, but she could not escape the long arm of Nassau County law enforcement,” Rice said in a release.

Walsh was employed as a home health aide from July 24, 2009, through Sept. 20, 2009, for an 82-year-old North Hills woman who had sustained a broken leg and arm from a fall, according to Rice.

When the victim’s son attempted to sell his mother’s large coin collection, he discovered that more than $133,000 worth of coins was missing, Rice said. Video surveillance confirmed that Walsh had stolen the coins while employed in the home.

The health aide, who was free on $20,000 bail, purchased a one-way ticket to her native Jamaica that was set to leave Tuesday morning after she was told her that her case was moving to trial, the district attorney said. Walsh was pulled off the plane by airline personnel and arrested by detectives from the Nassau County Police Department’s Fugitive Squad.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Lipinsky of the County Court Trial Bureau is prosecuting the case for the DA’s Office.

Walsh is represented by Theodore Robinson, Esq.