WHEREAS, Four mentally disabled adults ranging in age from twenty-nine through forty-one with mental capacities of a ten year old - identified as Tamara Breeden, Derwin McLemire, Herbert Knowles, and one unnamed male - were discovered severely malnourished in the basement of Linda Ann Weston's Tacony neighborhood house by the landlord with one adult chained to the boiler; and
WHEREAS, Four suspects have been arrested alongside Weston, including her boyfriend, Gregory Thomas, and Eddie Wright, a self-described minister and Weston's daughter, Jean McIntosh, who lived in the building where the mentally disabled adults were kept; and
WHEREAS, The four suspects are charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, criminal trespass, and conspiracy; and
WHEREAS, Weston is suspected of holding the adults captive to access their Social Security checks due to lax rules around performing background checks for Representative Payees who can cash checks of the mentally disabled and handicapped as noted in a 2010 report by Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General; and
WHEREAS, Weston has a prior legal conviction from 1984, having been sentenced to imprisonment for third-degree murder for starving a man to death in the coat closet of her North Philadelphia apartment. The man, who was her sister's boyfriend, angered Weston by questioning whether he was the father of Weston's sister's child. Weston served four years in prison for her involvement in this case; and
WHEREAS, As part of her parole for the murder, Weston was supposed to be under court-ordered supervision and receiving psychiatric treatment. Frequently on the move, Weston had only sporadic meetings with her parole officer; and
WHEREAS, Weston was diagnosed as mildly mentally retarded and suffering from intrinsic brain damage, namely epilepsy, according to court-ordered psychiatric evaluations. Additional court records also show a diagnosis of schizophrenia; and
WHEREAS, Upon her early release from prison, after serving four (4) years, Weston was granted custody of three of her children. A fourth child, a son, went to live with an uncle; and
WHEREAS, More than fifty (50) Social Security cards, power of attorney documents, and other such forms where found in Weston's belongings. Police are in the process of investigating whether the cards belong to persons dead or alive; and
WHEREAS, Weston has a history of fraud with Social Security. In the past, Weston attempted to continue collecting benefits for her roommate, Maxine Lee, after the woman's death and Weston's siblings have informed police of her abusive nature, citing numerous scenarios of physical and sexual torture, incest, and drugging. The siblings further allege that Weston forced them to perform incest, in hopes of expanding their family with children who would bring in additional benefit checks; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council's Committee on the Disabled and Handicapped to hold public hearings for the purpose of examining and investigating the incidences involving Linda Ann Weston and three additional persons suspected of holding four mentally disabled adults and several juveniles captive with the intent to commit fraud by cashing the Social Security checks of those held in captivity.
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