A former Shelter Island town justice and her husband were arraigned Thursday on charges they stole more than $1 million from an elderly woman.

The Suffolk County District Attorney?s Office says Katherine Pope and her husband Wayne befriended the woman, who had dementia, and drained money from her estate. Prosecutors say the couple liquidated stocks and bonds in Mary Abbott Estabrook?s name, then used the money to buy a home as well as for other purposes.

The Popes? defense attorney says the whole thing is a misunderstanding and that the money transferred was a loan.