Brooke Astor's 89-Year-Old Son, Convicted of Swindling Her, Deemed Eligible for Medical Parole

July 23, 2013— -- The 89-year-old son of the late New York City philanthropist Brooke Astor has been deemed eligible for medical parole because of his frail health, according to the New York State Department of Corrections.

Anthony Marshall, 89, was sentenced to one to three years in prison last month after years of trying to appeal his conviction of swindling his late mother out of millions as she suffered from Alzheimer's in her final years.

Marshall, who is confined to a wheelchair, is being held at the Regional Medical Unit at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, N.Y.

After a medical examination by physicians, acting under direction from the state, Anthony J. Annucci, the acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, deemed the octogenarian eligible for medical parole.

The Board of Parole will make the final decision after an interview with Marshall, which is scheduled for Aug. 19, state corrections spokesman Tom Mailey said.

Inmates are considered for medical parole if they are suffering from a terminal illness or are "so physically or cognitively debilitated or incapacitated that there is a reasonable probability that he or she no longer presents any danger to society," according to a directive outlining the eligibility process.

Marshall reportedly suffers from Parkinson's disease and congestive heart failure.

His mother, Astor, was a New York socialite, writer and respected philanthropist who died in August 2007 at the age of 105.

Prosecutors said Marshall, a former Broadway producer and diplomat, had exploited his mother's deteriorating mental state after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease to pilfer expensive artwork off her walls, go on a spending spree with her money and make changes to her will that gave him control of her fortune, some of which Astor had wanted to bequeath to her favorite charities.

Marshall is the fourth-oldest inmate in New York's prison system, corrections spokesman Mailey said.

At 93 years and 7 months old, John Bunz, who was convicted of manslaughter, is the oldest inmate in the state.

The nonagenarian, who began serving his sentence in 2010, is housed at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, N.Y., and is scheduled to be released March 14, 2025, at the earliest, according to online records.