A 49-year-old Navarre woman was sentenced Thursday to 7.5 years in prison for defrauding an elderly woman of more than $582,000 from March 2020 to September 2021.
- Sheena Russell received the sentence from Judge William Stone in Okaloosa County court after pleading guilty to elder exploitation. She must serve 22 years of probation following her prison term and pay $707,333.21 in restitution.
Russell knew victim Rita Shuck and her late husband for years, having served them as a waitress at a Fort Walton Beach restaurant. She began doing errands for Shuck after her husband passed away, according to court testimony.
“She befriended my sister, gained her trust, and then stole from her,” said Jerry Peck, Shuck’s brother, who lives near Kansas City, Missouri. Peck said he wanted Russell “to receive the maximum amount of time by law and probation to pay for full restitution.”
The investigation began when Peck contacted authorities after discovering suspicious withdrawals from his sister’s accounts. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Michael Kruger found that Russell used funds to help pay off her mortgage, buy vehicles and fund trips to Walt Disney World, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, Washington, D.C. and a ski trip to Utah…