Earlville man sentenced to 6 years in prison for stealing $1.2M from person with dementia

A former financial advisor has been sentenced in Kendall County to six years in prison after pleading guilty to financially exploiting an elderly client over several years.

Kendall County Judge Jody Gleason on July 22 handed down the sentence. In April, Bradley Goodbred, 57, formerly of Plano and whose residence is listed as Earlville, entered a blind plea to financial exploitation of an elderly person, which is a felony.

The matter then proceeded to a contested sentencing hearing in front of Gleason, according to a news release from Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis.

In 2022, Goodbred was charged with the theft of more than $1.2 million from an elderly client over an eight-year period. In the original federal court filing against Goodbred it stated the victim had dementia and was 97 at the time Goodbred was charged.

“The elderly can, at times, be one of the most vulnerable segments of society as they can feel helpless and ashamed in these types of crimes,” Weis said following the sentence. “Without the commitment of all agencies involved to the protection of the public, the victim of this crime would not have seen justice. The court in sentencing the defendant to prison sends a message that this type of conduct will not be tolerated in Kendall County.”

In January 2021, the court appointed guardian of the victim reported to the Yorkville Police Department that Goodbred had been taking advantage of the elder victim over a period of time, Weis said in the release.

During the investigation into the case,Yorkville police learned that Goodbred had been a financial planner and advisor to the victim when he was working at LPL Financial. In June 2010, there was a financial power of attorney signed appointing Goodbred as the victim’s power of attorney, according to the release.

Goodbred had an additional company and persuaded the victim to “invest” in his company, the release said. Through his employment as the victim’s financial advisor, Goodbred approved the request for monies to be withdrawn from her trust account which were then placed into the victim’s checking account, according to the release.

From there, checks would be written to Goodbred’s company and Goodbred would then transfer those funds to his own personal account, Weis said in the release. None of the monies that were transferred from the victim’s accounts were used for her benefit, he said.

The court remarked when handing down Goodbred’s six-year sentence that a term of probation would deprecate the seriousness of the offense, according to the release.

Goodbred‘s sentence will require him to serve one year of mandatory supervised release, formerly known as parole.