A man and a woman were sentenced separately Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court for bilking elderly and vulnerable victims out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Lisa B. Allred, 45, was charged in August 2008 with swindling her mother out of almost $22,000 after her mother had a stroke and gave Allred power of attorney to pay her nursing home bills.

Allred, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty in November and was given a stay-of-imposition sentence by District Judge Teresa Warner. She will be on probation for five years and must serve 45 days in jail. She was given credit for eight days she has already spent in custody. Restitution was left open for 90 days.

James C. Somers, 57, of Roseville, was given a 13-month stayed sentence by Warner in October after he admitted swindling two vulnerable St. Paul residents out of tens of thousands of dollars for shabby or nonexistent work on their homes and yards.

On Tuesday, he returned to court to ask Warner to impose the sentence rather than serve 10 years on probation. He was given credit for 100 days he has spent in custody.

According to two criminal complaints, Somers persuaded a St. Paul woman with Alzheimer's disease to write him 11 checks totaling more than $29,000 in the spring and summer of 2008.

Only two of the checks had notations that gave some hint as to what they were for -- one for $950 said "tree removal," the other for $1,900 said "garage door."

He also was accused of swindling an 86-year-old St. Paul man in May out of $25,000 for roof repairs when all he did was spray-paint the roof vents so they appeared new.

Somers pleaded guilty in the latter case; the former was dismissed.

He must pay restitution to both victims.

PAT PHEIFER