A Caledonia woman took money from her elderly mother to buy cocaine with it, according to the Racine County District Attorney’s Office.
Debra Cano, 47, was charged with theft from a business setting over $10,000 by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office for  taking over $22,000 from her mother’s checking account while she was in a nursing home.
If convicted, Cano faces up to 10 years in prison or fines up to $25,000.
According to the criminal complaint, Cano’s mother went into St. Monica’s Nursing Home, 3920 N. Green Bay Rd., and had to have surgery for a medical procedure. Cano’s mother told police that she gave Cano permission to take care of her financial obligations while she was recovering from surgery in Feb. 2011. But she never gave authorization to Cano to take money out of the account without her consent. Cano added her name as a payee to her mother’s  account, and changed the billing address to her home address.
Cano’s mother told police she hadn’t seen Cano since the summer of 2011.
Cano told police she had her mother’s debit card and told police she was addicted to cocaine, but had used the money to buy drugs in February 2013.
She is expected to have an initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Racine County Courthouse.