Woman accused of gambling away elderly in-laws savings is arraigned

Jennifer Dennison, who appeared in the Hernando County Courthouse in Brooksville on Tuesday morning, is accused of gambling away her elderly in-laws' life savings. Ocala prosecutor Jeremy Powers consolidated Dennison's initial 16 counts down to just one first-degree felony grand theft from a person older than 65. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Laverne Dennison, 88, says the more than $500,000 his daughter-in-law is accused of stealing was meant to eventually care for his 73-year-old wife, Janet, who suffers from advanced-stage dementia. "I figure she should be sentenced to at least two tens," Laverne Dennison said Monday. "Twenty years."