Instead of using $17,300 in government checks to pay for the care of her mother who was ravaged by dementia, Turk used the money for herself, a federal attorney said.

WEST PALM BEACH - Fresh from hosting a fund-raiser for the legal defense of Republican operative Roger Stone, conservative media commentator Karyn Turk on Friday admitted she stole her 83-year-old mother’s Social Security checks.

Looking relaxed and unperturbed, Karyn Turk pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a single charge of Social Security fraud. Turk, who was crowned Mrs. Florida 2016 and touts her involvement in charities, faces a maximum one-year jail term and possible $100,000 fine when she is sentenced on Dec. 13.

Because the charge is a misdemeanor, the 47-year-old Highland Beach woman who uses social media and her radio and television shows to defend all things Republican would not lose her ability to vote - a right she described as "very important to me."

Instead of using $17,300 in government checks to pay for the care of her mother who was ravaged by dementia, Turk used the money for herself, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne Rabinowitz.

Turk didn’t dispute the prosecutor’s description of her crime. While she and her attorney, Guy Fronstin, declined comment as they left the courthouse, both said additional information would surface that would explain her actions.

The criminal charges stemmed from an ugly fight in probate court that began when she didn’t pay for her mother’s expenses at the American Finnish Nursing Home in Lake Worth, records show.

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Suspecting Turk was using her mother’s Social Security checks to bankroll her upscale lifestyle, the administrator of the home in July 2018 asked Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Janis Brustares Keyser to appoint a guardian to represent Turk’s mother, a retired school teacher who was born in Austria.

The court-appointed guardian confirmed nursing home administrator Daniel Benson’s suspicions.

In court papers, guardian Amy Nicol accused Turk of using her mother’s Social Security checks to promote her dream of appearing on "The Real Housewives of Palm Beach" and to garner publicity.

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As evidence, Nicol’s attorney Brian O’Connell accused Turk and her husband of renting large homes in Wellington, where they then lived, and buying tables at equestrian events that they could ill-afford.

Their financial stretch was compounded because Turk’s husband, Boynton Beach lawyer Evan Turk, is supporting his children from his first marriage, O’Connell claimed. Court records show Evan Turk has to pay nearly $2,000 a month in child support. In October, he was $32,500 in arrears, records show.

O’Connell claims Turk took her mother’s money so she and her husband could live beyond their means.

"Karyn took the Social Security monies … and improperly diverted such monies and used same for her and/or her families benefit ... including, but not limited to, supporting her lifestyle," O’Connell wrote.

In response, Evan Turk challenged O’Connell, saying he offered no proof to back up the claims. Further, he said, the information O’Connell was seeking was protected by attorney-client privilege because he represented his wife in the proceedings.

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Turk’s mother died in July. Since then, the legal battle has intensified.

Earlier this month, Turk filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home.

Nicol and O’Connell on Wednesday challenged Turk’s appointment as the administrator of her mother’s estate. In their challenge, they said her role conflicts with the terms of the bond she posted to get out of jail after being arrested in August.

As part of her bond package, Turk was ordered to "avoid all contact with victims or witnesses to the crimes charged except through counsel," O’Connell wrote. "Karyn has an unavoidable conflict serving as personal representative."

The ongoing litigation and Turk’s appearance before U.S. Magistrate Bruce Reinhart caps a busy year for the woman who trumpets herself on social media as "a constant source of information regarding business, technology, politics and the modern woman."

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This week alone, she has been feted at the Boca Raton Resort as a Best Buddies Champion of the Year for raising money and awareness about the group that mentors teens with disabilities.

And, on Thursday, less than 14 hours before her court appearance, she and her husband were at the Bull Bar in Delray Beach, hosting the fund-raiser for Stone, who lives in Fort Lauderdale.

It is one of several the couple has held to help Stone, whom they describe as their "patriotic friend." The events are designed to help Stone build a legal war chest to defend himself on charges of lying to Congress and obstructing the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe.

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In the meantime, Turk also has served as a spokeswoman for Cindy Yang, a Wellington woman who was accused of peddling Chinese influence in Republican circles. Yang’s habit of taking selfies with Trump and her alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party of China made national news when she also was identified as the former owner of a Jupiter day spa where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was caught in a prostitution sting.

Turk’s position as spokeswoman for Yang came as her husband signed on as Yang’s lawyer. In May, he sued the Miami Herald for defamation in connection with its coverage of Yang’s activities. The newspaper has defended its reporting.

The controversy swirling around Turk’s handling of her mother’s money hasn’t curbed her devotion to social media.

In a tweet and Facebook post on Wednesday, she referred to her mother to promote a charity fund-raiser for Alzheimer’s research.

My mom is no longer with us but this video is a great reminder of why finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and dementia is so important for all of us. This disease is life changing for those who are... https://t.co/zYemZZZGrh

— Karyn Turk (@KarynTurk) September 25, 2019

"My mom is no longer with us but this video is a great reminder of why finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and dementia is so important for all of us," she wrote.

jmusgrave@pbpost.com

@pbpcourts