SAN ANTONIO – The former president of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has avoided jail time after pleading no contest to a charge that she financially abused her elderly mother.
Rita Elizondo, 73, was sentenced to six years of deferred adjudication and must pay back her 104-year-old mother Maria $14,000 as part of a plea agreement accepted in 399th Criminal District Court on Tuesday.
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Elizondo must also perform 120 hours of community service, court records show.
Elizondo, a longtime political consultant who served as SAHCC’s president from 1998 to 2004, was indicted late last year on accusations she drained tens of thousands of dollars from her mother’s bank accounts while serving as her power of attorney.
Elizondo pleaded no contest to financial abuse of the elderly between $2,500 and $30,000. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors waived additional charges of misapplication of financial property between $2,500 and $30,000 and exploitation of the elderly, records show.
Her sentencing hearing included a recorded statement from Maria, who previously asked KSAT not to use her last name.
“At my age, every postponement carries a weight. No amount of money can restore what was broken,” Maria read on camera.
“This was a family dispute that has finally been resolved,” Elizondo’s attorney, Gerry Goldstein, told KSAT via telephone Wednesday,
Although records obtained by KSAT show the unauthorized transactions totaled more than $48,000, Elizondo was charged under statutes covering fraud up to $30,000 only.
Unauthorized transactions included skin rejuvenation and large mortgage payment
The transactions included cash withdrawals of $5,000 and $2,000, $910 on skin rejuvenation in Elizondo’s name and a payment to a mortgage company of $17,797.53, all made within a two-week period in March and April 2024, financial records show.
Maria eventually sent Elizondo a demand letter informing her that the unauthorized transactions caused her great financial harm.
The letter revoked Elizondo’s power of attorney and demanded that more than $48,000 be paid back.
Maria’s family previously confirmed to KSAT that they attempted to settle the matter through mediation, but Elizondo declined to comply with it.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.