A 65-year-old Benson man indicted earlier this year on felony charges of failing to protect the health of an elderly woman in 2019 and stealing money from her has been ordered to stand trial next March.
Charles James Weldi Jr. came under investigation in January 2019 when a Cochise County probation officer conducted a home inspection at Weldi’s residence. At the time, Weldi was serving probation for a 2016 narcotic drug offense.
The probation officer notified the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office of finding an emaciated, semi-conscious, and immobile woman “of advanced age” laying on a urine-covered mattress. The woman’s medical condition was so dire she was airlifted to Tucson Medical Center, according to public records.
Weldi fled the home before deputies and paramedics arrived. In August 2019, he was sentenced to two years in prison for the 2016 drug offense and another two years for possession of illegal drugs in 2019.
Then while Weldi was still in prison, the Cochise County Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges in connection to the woman’s care back in January 2019. Weldi was formally indicted by a county grand jury for a Class 2 felony of vulnerable adult abuse and a Class 5 felony for theft from a vulnerable abuse.
In addition, sheriff’s investigators were directed by the county grand jury to look deeper into the victim’s financial records to see if additional charges are warranted against Weldi or anyone else.
Weldi was transferred to the Cochise County jail to await trial on the new charges with $50,000 bail. He officially completed his two Arizona Department of Corrections sentences while in jail.
Last month Weldi sought pretrial release on his own recognizance or to a third party custodian along with electronic monitoring. The prosecutor, Michael Powell, argued against reducing Weldi’s bail conditions.
“The State believes the Defendant is unemployed, has a significant criminal history, and a significant drug issue,” Powell argued. That criminal history, according to Powell, dates back to 1983 and includes convictions of breaking and entering in 1986, larceny in 1993, fraud in 1996, larceny in 1999, attempted possession of burglary tools in 2003, driving without a license in 2008, possession of a narcotic drug in 2010, and reckless driving in 2013.
Powell also highlighted four prior incidents in which Weldi failed to appear for various court hearings. Judge Timothy Dickerson left the bail order in place. Weldi’s next hearing is a pretrial conference set for this fall in advance of a March 1, 2022 jury trial.