A River Falls man is accused of tricking a senior citizen and her son into giving him thousands of dollars to fuel his drug habit while claiming he was trying to get into rehab.

Oscar Stanley Amaya, 35, was ordered to pay $10,000 cash bail Feb. 28 in Pierce County Circuit Court on felony theft – false representation > $5,000-$10,000 (elder person victim, repeater), felony possession of narcotic drugs (repeater) and possess drug paraphernalia (repeater) charges. If convicted, Amaya faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

At 10:46 a.m. Feb. 11, police were dispatched to a town of River Falls address to speak with a woman who was concerned about a man she said she was trying to help get into drug treatment. The woman told officers that she and her 58-year-old son had been allowing Amaya to stay in a camper on their property for several years. She said Amaya had been there too long and she wanted him gone.

The woman told police they’ve been trying to get Amaya into detox since early 2022 and can’t believe how much money it costs to do so. She said she and her son have brought Amaya to get drug tested regularly at a facility in Hudson and loan him money to pay the fees each time. She said each time they try to get him into treatment, Amaya tells them he needs more testing and medical care before he can go. She and her son had given Amaya more than $40,000 over the years and she provided police with pages of detailed logs showing the amounts of money loaned, the dates and what the money was for. She admitted she wrote checks to Amaya directly.

She and her son had also been giving Amaya rides to the Cities to allegedly get paperwork from family members so that he could enter treatment. He later admitted to police he was using the money loaned to him for drugs and the trips to the Cities were to buy drugs.

Amaya’s probation agent notified police Feb. 12 that Amaya had a Department of Corrections warrant for his arrest after he left a treatment program in Eau Claire after being there a couple of hours. The agent said Amaya had tested positive for multiple drugs.

At 9:47 a.m. Feb. 23, police drove by the residence where Amaya was staying and noticed his dog in the driveway. The dog was pulled back toward a camper by a leash and police saw Amaya open the camper’s door. He told police he was aware of the warrant and had left treatment because he didn’t know the rules or expectations. He admitted to scamming his two landlords out of money and said he planned to pay them back when he got a job.

Amaya told officers he’d last used fentanyl the night before. Inside the camper, officers found a plastic container containing fentanyl, smoking devices with burnt residue and a tinfoil packet.

Amaya was arrested and taken to Pierce County Jail.