A woman who stole $4,230 from an elderly dementia patient whose finances she was managing was sentenced last week in Anoka County to a year of probation after pleading guilty to theft and agreeing to repay the money.

Donetta L'nee Grimes-Norris, now living in Buford, Ga., admitted April 22 that she stole the money from the checking account of Teresa Smith in 2014 while acting as a court-appointed conservator through Lutheran Social Service.

The agency replenished Smith's account and fired Grimes-Norris when the theft was discovered. She later moved to Georgia and went to work for the state's Division of Family and Children Services.

The stolen checks had been itemized as advance payments to Hairplus Gallery for hairstyling, coloring, massage and manicures, according to court records. The salon was owned by Veronica Norris-Grimes, her wife.

Grimes-Norris, 37, was charged with financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, but the charge was reduced to misdemeanor theft as part of a plea bargain.

Judge Jenny Walker Jasper stayed a 90-day jail sentence and $500 fine for one year, and barred her from holding any fiduciary roles or acting as a guardian for another person.