PARIS — A married couple accused of bilking an elderly Rumford woman out of more than $40,000 pleaded guilty to theft and forgery charges in Oxford County Superior Court on Friday.

David Hodgkins, 34, of Rumford, pleaded guilty to writing at least 80 fraudulent checks from the 82-year-old woman’s bank account and racking up more than $300 in charges on her credit card while working as a handyman around her home.

Hodgkins was given two concurrent eight-year prison sentences, all suspended, three years probation and was ordered to pay up to $40,600 in restitution to the victim. He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham for a similar crime. 

His wife, Angela Hodgkins, 30, pleaded guilty to a theft charge and was given a two-year differed disposition. If she completes the disposition and repays $3,200 to the victim, the charges against her will be dismissed. 

The couple, as well as Henry Ross, 35, who was also charged in the case, were arrested by Rumford police in April following a lengthy investigation.

Assistant District Attorney Joe O’Connor told the court Hodgkins developed a relationship with the victim after she hired him to do odd jobs like painting, masonry and duct work around her home. 

During a five-month period, from April to September 2012, David Hodgkins, along with Angela Hodgkins and Ross, forged checks from the woman’s bank account and then persuaded friends to cash them at local banks. 

O’Connor, citing an investigation by Rumford Police Detective Sgt. James Bernard, said Hodgkins hired Ross to help him, but the work completed by the two men was of poor quality, not worth a fraction of what was eventually stolen from the victim. 

An extensively itemized quote from an independent contractor indicated that the work done on the victim’s home was only worth $1,500. Hodgkins could also not provide police with receipts to justify his purchases, according to the report. 

Multiple witnesses told police that David and Angela Hodgkins asked them to cash checks from the victim on the couple’s behalf because banks in the area refused to do business with them. 

In all, 15 people cashed checks from the victim’s account, according to Bernard’s report. The total amount taken from the victim was $40,331. According to O’Connor, the trio cashed $5,000 worth of checks in a single 10-day period.

Nine checks, totaling around $3,200, were made out to Angela Hodgkins, although O’Connor said she had performed no services for the victim that would have merited giving her any checks. 

Hodgkins also took the victim’s credit card and made about $354 in purchases and cash back at Walmart, according to the report. According to police, the investigation began when the victim reported the theft of her card last autumn.

In July 2012, David Hodgkins was convicted in an almost identical case. He pleaded guilty to forging nine checks totaling $11,700 from an elderly man after he was hired to do odd jobs around the man’s home. He was given a suspended three-year prison sentence for the crime and three years probation.

As a result of his 2013 arrest, Hodgkins was arrested for probation violation and is now serving his original prison term.

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