A West Seattle woman’s grandson has been sentenced to prison for stealing half a million dollars from her. According to court documents, the thefts happened at multiple times and in multiple ways between 2020 and 2022. The convicted thief, 33-year-old Forrest W. Strong of Gold Bar, is the only grandson of the 90-year-old victim, an Alki resident. Here’s what the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced today about the case:
Forrest Strong has been sentenced for stealing $500,000+ from his grandmother. This followed a jury trial that ended in March of this year, in which he was convicted of 1 count of Theft 1 and 5 counts of Theft 2 (all counts with a Major Economic Offense aggravator).
Strong was charged with theft by deception, a unique and difficult charge to prove at trial. The victim’s dementia had progressed such that she was unable to testify, so we were left with statements she had made to her son about her finances, as well as her check registry and text messages between herself and the defendant for a few months of the charging period to establish what her intent had been as to her finances. The jury found that Strong deceived his grandmother both as to his need for money (he often had more in the bank than she did) and as to the uses of the money he was asking her for (he said he needed gas money or a car part but he really used it on other things).
Given that he had no previous criminal history, under the sentencing ranges set by state lawmakers, Strong faced facing 14-18 months on the underlying charges, as well as additional time on the aggravators. King County Prosecutors asked for the high end of 18 months, plus an additional 12 months on the aggravators for a total of 30 months, and the court sentenced him to 24 months.
According to court documents, Superior Court Judge Samuel Chung presided at Strong’s sentencing.