Centerville fugitive apprehended on federal and state warrants
A Centerville woman who was wanted on federal and state warrants was apprehended Saturday to face allegations she abused her care-dependent sister and stole her Social Security income.
Authorities said Leona Biser, 51, had been living in a tent on her property after she was forced to leave her duplex at 29 Sixth St. when it was condemned.
Biser was indicted earlier this month on two federal felony counts involving the alleged theft of Social Security benefits paid to her sister, Loretta Lancaster.
The indictment followed Biser’s Jan. 15 arrest by the state attorney general’s office on charges, including endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person and false imprisonment after investigators found her sister in a wooden cage-like structure in Biser’s home.
The state warrant stemmed for Biser’s failure to appear in Washington County Court on the state charges.
She also was being held in Washington County jail on a federal detainer to make sure she would not released from custody, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh.