Caretaker who stole $129,619, had fake painkiller prescription convicted

ROBERTS, Wis. - A Roberts woman accused of fleecing a vulnerable adult severely injured in a motorcycle crash out of more than $100,000 pleaded guilty in the case recently in St. Croix County Circuit Court.

June M. Hicks, 54, entered guilty pleas to five counts of felony theft and one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud - also a felony.

Fifty-one additional counts - comprising other theft and fraudulent controlled-substance charges -- were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Hicks was accused of illegally accessing funds belonging to Hudson resident Mark E. Weckwerth, who was left permanently disabled after a 2005 motorcycle crash. He was placed in Hicks’ sole guardianship in 2012 after his parents died, though she began handling his finances and care in 2009.

According to St. Croix County prosecutors, Hicks drew payments from Weckwerth’s funds for more hours than she actually worked as a caregiver. Hicks’ husband, Sammy Hicks, was also charged in the case, along with their daughter.

Allegations against the Hickses included making mortgage payments and receiving undocumented withdrawals from Weckwerth’s account.

The drug-related charges against June Hicks stemmed from allegations that she picked up oxycodone prescriptions for Weckworth for four years, though he had not been prescribed the drug. Hicks later admitted to investigators that she has a painkiller addiction.

The case against the Hickses and their daughter, Courtney McConnach, was turned over to the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office for prosecution.

At the hearing, June Hicks was ordered to repay $129,619 - $50,000 of which must be paid before she is sentenced in April.

Courtney McConnach, 25, was convicted last year of felony forgery in the case. A plea deal called for the former River Falls woman to spend time on probation and to repay $13,930 in stolen funds that were also taken from Weckwerth’s funds. She admitted to writing fraudulent checks to herself.

The plea deal also called for McConnach to testify against her parents at trial.

A jury trial for Sammy Hicks remains set for June 24.