Bambi Ann Cerka, a former employee of Zearing Health Care, pleaded guilty to stealing money from elderly patients and has been ordered to repay $19,000. Despite initially facing a 35-year prison sentence, Cerka will not serve additional jail time after all but 90 days were suspended during a hearing on June 24. She was given credit for time served and will now focus on repaying the stolen funds.
Cerka was accused of stealing a total of $26,900 from four patients over the course of a year while working at Zearing Health Care. She initially pleaded not guilty in March but changed her plea to guilty in May, admitting to charges of first-degree theft against an older individual, two counts of dependent adult abuse, and one count of third-degree theft.
The court has ordered Cerka to repay $19,509 to the Zearing Health Care Center, where the financial irregularities first came to light in August 2023. An investigation revealed that Cerka had access to personal information for patients as part of her job duties, allowing her to redirect funds to personal accounts she had created. Over a 13-month period from July 2022 to August 2023, four victims lost nearly $27,000 as a result of Cerka’s actions.
Following her guilty plea, Cerka will focus on repaying the stolen funds rather than serving additional jail time.
