TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that an Ocala woman has been arrested on charges that she exploited a disabled adult under her care. Althea Goodson, owner of Heavenly Alms Group Home, will be charged with one count of exploitation of a disabled adult, a charge which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. She was arrested by law enforcement with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Goodson, as owner and operator of Heavenly Alms Group Home, was responsible under Florida Law to oversee and respond to the needs of the facility’s residents including assisting them with financial matters. Goodson, 39, allegedly diverted a mentally disabled resident’s social security funds into her personal account by withdrawing money on nine different occasions. Each withdrawal was in excess of $600 and the total of withdrawals was $14,025. She then used the money for her own benefit instead of for the resident’s living expenses and necessities.

Goodson has been charged with one count of exploitation, a third-degree felony. In addition to a potential five-year prison sentence, she could receive up to $10,000 in fines. The case was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and is being prosecuted by the State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit.