Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alton Fitzgerald McLaurin, 48, was arrested and charged with fraud, exploitation of the elderly, and theft over $10,000 after allegedly depositing over $12,000 in Social Security checks made out to his mother and spending about $7,000 on a cruise.

In July, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to Park Meadows (3250 SW 41st Place), where a manager and an Adult Protective Services investigator said they were investigating the theft of a resident’s Social Security checks. They said Park Meadows was removed as the victim’s Social Security payee in October 2023, and staff spent several months filing paperwork and consulting with doctors to get the victim declared mentally and medically competent so the checks could come to the victim again. In June 2024, Social Security began reissuing checks, including a check for $10,684 that included back pay for the missed payments; a second check for $1,346 was sent in July.

However, after Park Meadows realized they had not received the checks, they contacted Social Security and learned that the checks had been delivered to an address the victim shares with her son and then deposited into a USAA bank account. The victim said she did not have a USAA bank account, but her son did.

Park Meadows reportedly made multiple attempts to speak with McLaurin, and he reportedly said several times that he would get the money to them when he got back into town, but he had allegedly not followed through by the time the sworn complaint was filed at the end of July.

A subpoena to USAA produced records that reportedly showed the checks being deposited on an Android phone to an account owned by McLaurin. When the first check was deposited, McLaurin reportedly had $1,600 in his bank account; about two weeks after depositing the check, two purchases totaling $7,000 were made to pay for a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Post Miranda, McLaurin reportedly admitted depositing the checks and paying for the cruise, as well as buying things for his children. He originally said he had a Power of Attorney for his mother, but once he was told there was no Power of Attorney on file, he reportedly said that he knew he had messed up. He reportedly told deputies that he had apologized to his mother, had asked his bank to refund the money to the Social Security Administration, and is now working two jobs to pay the bank.

McLaurin has no criminal convictions and was released on his own recognizance.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.