KINGSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY(WBRE/WYOU) — A man is facing charges after police say he swindled over $88,000 from his mother to support a gambling addiction while she was in a nursing home.
41-year-old Orlando Blackwell, of Wilkes-Barre, is facing charges that allege he transferred funds and issued himself checks from his 81-year-old mother’s accounts from March 2025 to July 2026.
An investigation began into the possible theft of funds from the victim’s account after a nursing and rehab facility in Kingston stopped receiving payments from her account. The account showed that $88,413 was stolen or misappropriated while Blackwell was designated as power of attorney over his mother’s financial affairs, according to the affidavit.