Washington County woman gets prison for keeping disabled sister locked in cage

A Washington County woman pleaded guilty Thursday to keeping her developmentally disabled sister in a cage, according to the state Attorney General’s Office. She will spend just under two years in prison.

Leona Biser, 53, pleaded guilty to abuse of a care-dependent person and neglect of a care-dependent person. The charges, filed in January 2020, stem from the revelation she kept her sister, then 53 years old, locked in a wooden cage and kept her from receiving medical care.

When an Adult Protective Services contractor discovered Biser’s sister, she was in a manmade cage in her sister’s living room with only a dirty mattress inside. Authorities said she wasn’t receiving her seizure medication or receiving proper nutrition.

Authorities said the enclosure was made from lumber and plywood, and it had a gate with a latch on the outside.

Biser, of Vestaburg, told authorities at the time she kept her sister in the cage because she was constantly falling.

“What Leona Biser did to her sister is unforgivable,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro, “but today’s plea is a step toward justice.”

He said Biser’s sister, who is under the permanent care of a community service group. When she was taken from Biser’s care, the woman had a urinary tract infection and rhabdomyolysis – a breakdown of muscle that can be caused by infection.

Authorities noted that within a month of leaving Biser’s care, the woman was able to smile, laugh, make eye contact and communicate. Investigators said it was “a complete change” from the person they saw in Biser’s home.

After she was charged with the neglect of her sister, she was also charged federally with fraud for cashing and using her sister’s Social Security payments. She pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in June. She was sentenced to time served – about nine months – and ordered to pay $12,201 in restitution.