HARRISBURG, PA — A Lawrence County personal care home administrator was sentenced Wednesday to up to three years in prison after a jury convicted her of neglect that led to the 2021 death of a resident who went more than 10 days without prescribed anti-seizure medication, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced.
Kelly R. Gonzales, 50, of New Castle, was sentenced by Lawrence County President Judge Craig J. Cox to one to three years of incarceration after a February jury convicted her of felony counts of neglect of a care-dependent person and endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person.
The court also ordered Gonzales to pay $5,093 in restitution and barred her from serving in a personal care capacity while under court supervision.
According to the Office of Attorney General, Gonzales was the administrator of ARC, a personal care home in New Castle, where she was responsible for overseeing residents’ care, including ensuring they received prescribed medications.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Gonzales failed to renew a resident’s anti-seizure medication prescription or direct other staff members to do so after the prescription expired. The Attorney General’s Office also presented testimony that two colleagues urged Gonzales to take the resident to an emergency room to obtain the medication, but she did not.
The resident died at the facility on Dec. 2, 2021, after going more than 10 days without the prescribed medication.
“This is a heartbreaking case not only due to the loss of life, but because this death was preventable,” Attorney General Dave Sunday stated. “This was, pure and simple, a catastrophic failure of duty to protect and care for a patient whose life depended on prescription medication.”
Sunday added that the Office of Attorney General agreed with the court’s conclusion “that the conduct warrants incarceration.”
Although Gonzales was taken into custody following sentencing, the court granted her an appeal bond.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher R. Sherwood and Deputy Attorney General Peter Caravello prosecuted the case.
The Pennsylvania Medicaid Fraud Control Unit receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through a federal grant totaling $13,491,632 for federal fiscal year 2026, with the remaining 25%, or $4,497,207, funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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