A court-appointed guardian convicted of stealing from her own incapacitated grandmother
Linda Laird, 62, of Cordova, Maryland, was appointed a co-guardian and co-conservator of her own 81-year-old grandmother by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in November 2017, alongside her parents. After her mother's death in 2018, Laird continued serving in that role and diverted more than $21,000 in Social Security benefits and over $100,000 from the victim's bank accounts to herself, spending the money on jewelry, designer shoes and football tickets. A federal jury found her guilty in August 2026; sentencing was scheduled for December 2026.
- Year
- 2026
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Convicted
- Reported loss
- $121,000
- Victims
- One individual
- Schemes
- Power of attorney and caregiver financial abuse
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-12
The facts, as recorded
- The Superior Court of the District of Columbia appointed Laird, her father James Blizzard, and her mother Joyce Blizzard as co-guardians and co-conservators of Laird's 81-year-old grandmother, a vulnerable adult with severe cognitive impairments, in November 2017.
- Joyce Blizzard died in June 2018; Laird and James Blizzard continued serving as co-guardians and co-conservators afterward.
- Laird redirected the victim's Social Security Administration benefits and funds from her checking account to her own personal accounts instead of using them for the victim's benefit.
- More than $21,000 in stolen Social Security benefits and over $100,000 misappropriated from the victim's bank accounts were documented.
- The stolen funds were spent on jewelry, designer shoes and football tickets.
- Laird was charged with conspiracy to commit Social Security fraud and theft of public money, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, financial exploitation of a vulnerable and elderly adult, and fraud in the first degree against a senior citizen.
- A federal jury in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, before Judge Randolph D. Moss, found Laird guilty after a three-day trial; the verdict was returned on 20 August 2026.
- Sentencing was scheduled for 17 December 2026.
- The case was investigated by the District of Columbia Office of Inspector General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Jason Facci and David Deitch.
Why this case matters
Most cases on this page involve a power of attorney — a document the victim signs. This one involves a court-ordered guardianship and conservatorship instead, appointed by a judge specifically because the victim’s cognitive impairment meant she could not manage her own affairs or sign anything herself. The legal safeguard meant to protect the most vulnerable victims was itself the mechanism used against her.
A family arrangement, not a stranger’s scheme
Laird did not seek out a vulnerable stranger; she was appointed to manage her own grandmother’s affairs alongside her parents, in a process a court reviewed and approved. That the exploitation continued after her mother’s death, when family oversight within the arrangement had thinned to just Laird and her father, illustrates how these roles can outlast the circumstances that made them seem safe.
Two channels of theft
The case is unusual for combining diversion of federal benefits — Social Security payments the victim was entitled to receive directly — with more conventional misappropriation from personal bank accounts. The Social Security Administration’s own Office of Inspector General investigated the benefits side of the case specifically because a federal payment stream, not just a private account, was involved.
The caveat
Laird was found guilty by a federal jury after a three-day trial in August 2026; this is a proven legal outcome under the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, not an allegation. Sentencing was scheduled for December 2026 and had not occurred when this page was last reviewed, so the prison term and any restitution order are not yet part of the public record. The role and outcome for Laird’s father, James Blizzard, who also continued as a co-guardian, is not addressed in the source for this case.
Sources
- Maryland woman found guilty of financial exploitation of an elderly, incapacitated victim. Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General. Accessed 2026-09-12. Supports: The full factual summary above, including the guardianship appointment, the dollar amounts, the charges, the trial, the verdict date, and the sentencing date.