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VietnameseGriffin: ‘Cases like these don’t often result in prison time for the perpetrators, which underscores just how brazen and cruel this crime was’
LITTLE ROCK – Following a sentencing hearing Monday in a case prosecuted by his office, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement:
“Charlene Davila was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in state prison and ordered to pay $125,000 in restitution to her victim after she pleaded guilty in August for Abuse of Adults Exploitation, a Class B Felony, and Medicaid Fraud, a Class A Misdemeanor. She will serve five years in prison, with 10 years of the sentence suspended.
“Cases like these don’t often result in prison time for the perpetrators, which underscores just how brazen and cruel this crime was.
“Davila made a calculated effort to secure access to her victim’s funds after the victim’s husband passed away. The victim has no local family and was left with little support network following her husband’s death. Davila, a local tax preparer and neighbor of the victim’s, forged documents to get power of attorney on the victim’s bank accounts and took approximately $150,000 within just a few days of gaining access to the accounts. She also attempted to obtain guardianship over the victim so that the victim’s home could be sold with the proceeds going to Davila. The Court noted in its ruling how ‘disturbing’ this case was and how Davila took advantage of the victim’s vulnerabilities.
“I am grateful to Senior Assistant Attorney General Sharon Strong, who prosecuted this case in cooperation with Special Prosecuting Attorney Emily White. I also appreciate the great work done by Special Agent Dane Pederson of my office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, who worked in cooperation with the Hot Springs Police Department to investigate this case.”
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin attends Immanuel Baptist Church and lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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