On verge of local trial, U.S. Attorney indicts in Tacony basement captive case
Days before a trial was set to begin in a Philadelphia court, a 196 count federal indictment has come down against those accused of holding mentally disabled people in order to keep their benefit checks.
U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger says the indictment alleges that Linda Weston, her daughter and three others ran a criminal enterprise when they detained 10 mentally disabled adults while keeping more than $200,000 worth of their Social Security disability checks.
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“Escape for these individuals seemed impossible because Weston and the others kept them confined, locked in closets basements and attics,” Memeger said. In Fall 2011, four mentally disabled adults were found locked in the basement of a home on the 4700-block of Longshore Avenue in Tacony.
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