OKEECHOBEE — Cheryl Starbuck was sentenced to one year, one month and 24 days in county jail, followed by three years probation after pleading no contest to charges of neglecting an elderly or disabled person and grand theft. A charge of aggravated abuse of an elderly or disabled person was dropped.

Starbuck and her brother Robert Thompson were arrested in July 2019 following a 911 call. Starbuck and Thompson invited a woman to leave the nursing home and stay with them. They said they would care for her. The woman said she was physically and verbally abused by the siblings. She said she stayed there for five days and in that time was given two bottles of Pepsi and two bottles of water to drink. She claimed she was given one pork chop to eat. She said she was dropped several times while being transported from one room to another and screamed for help many times but no one heard her. Finally, Starbuck called 911 on the fifth day to ask for an ambulance, because the woman’s stomach was so swollen.

The grand theft charge stemmed from the theft of a check or cash valued at $300 or more.

Along with charges of abuse, Thompson was charged with committing sexual battery on the woman. He is awaiting trial on all counts.

In a phone call to the Lake Okeechobee News, Starbuck claimed the charges were exaggerated and said she most definitely gave the woman food and water while she was at her home.