Prosecutor to judge: Las Vegas group home’s residents ‘were abused and used’

Inside the home, officers found a man sleeping in his feces. Another had his diaper changed once a day. They had gone without food and medication.

They paid anywhere from $300 to $600 a month for these conditions, Deputy District Attorney Melanie Marland said.

“They’re the most vulnerable adults we have in our community,” she said. “They were abused and used.”

On Thursday, two of the unlicensed group home’s operators were sentenced for abuse and neglect of older and vulnerable people. They pleaded guilty in June.

District Judge Carli Kierny sentenced Mary Glenn, 57, to four to 10 years in prison. Glenn received just over a year of credit for time already served.

Devon Floyd, 40, received a sentence of two to five years and is eligible for parole because of time served.

Attorneys for both defendants asked for probation in the case. Prosecutors asked for eight to 20 years.

Abuse allegations

Glenn and Floyd were among four arrested in 2019 after an investigation into their business.

Bruce Wycoff — who worked as the manager — pleaded guilty last year and was placed on a maximum of one year’s probation.

Calvin Leslie, 57, is awaiting trial on three counts of abuse of an older or vulnerable person and four counts of neglect. He also faces one count of exploitation.

Glenn often would rent the house and not pay rent, forcing her tenants to move, court records show.

“Ms. Glenn touted herself as being the owner of independent-living facilities,” Marland said. “She promised them their shelter, cleanliness and food. And she failed on every single level.”

One resident, a 70-year-old woman, died of kidney failure because she could not make her dialysis appointments.

A six-bedroom residence was home to 18 adults and two children.

Many received government benefits and were taken advantage of, the prosecutor said.

Andrea Bell testified Thursday that when she visited her diabetic brother who suffered from dementia, she was horrified by his living conditions.

His bedroom reeked of rotting onions and potatoes. His cheeks were sunken in and boney.

“His general appearance resembled someone in the concentration camps in Europe during World War II,” she said. “I still cry out with anger at least once a week.”

Her brother, Joey, died last year. He weighed 92 pounds. He had lost most of his teeth.

Another resident, Wayne Mavrey, told the judge that Glenn told him that if there was an emergency, residents should go to a nearby store before calling 911.

But, he said, she has a good heart. She just should have gone about it the right way, Mavrey testified.

“I didn’t have money, and she took me in,” he said. “She was trying to help us to get money, but everything went backward.”

Charles Gordon testified that Floyd pretended to be him to cash in his daughter’s Social Security benefits.

‘I thought I was helping people’

Glenn, who appeared in custody via videoconference, told the judge that she housed some people for more than a year before receiving any money.

She insisted that she had not scammed her residents, that she was simply a terrible businesswoman who never reaped a profit. She also blamed the hospitals, which frequently deposited patients in her care.

“I shouldn’t have done this. It wasn’t in a professional capacity, but I thought I was helping people,” she said. “Something should be done with the hospitals to stop those persons from coming to me, if I’m not qualified.”

Floyd, also in custody and on video, praised Glenn, whom he calls his wife. He told Kierny the couple did their best to provide a service and described his experience as a once-homeless father.

“Maybe we got a little carried away by saying everybody and anybody is welcome,” he said. “They paint this big picture like we’re some monsters. That’s the thanks we get by getting thrown in jail. Nobody’s perfect.”

Kierny said she saw both sides of the issue. When she was first assigned the case, she thought she couldn’t see any reason except greed, the judge said. But the money ran out.

The judge told Glenn she sentenced her to prison in part because she was arrested on suspicion of fraudulently applying for COVID-19 relief funds while on house arrest.

“I know that you might have started out trying to help people,” Kierny said. “But in the end, that’s not what you were doing.”

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.