HONOLULU (AP) — An Oahu woman convicted of scamming elderly residents out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
HONOLULU (AP) — An Oahu woman convicted of scamming elderly residents out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Katy Sterio was sentenced Wednesday after pleading no contest to several charges, including identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. The charges stem from four separate cases, KHON-TV reported.
Sterio was caught on camera stealing credit cards from an elderly couple’s home in Mililani earlier this year. Investigators say Sterio and another suspect, Dino Costello, had claimed to be old friends from the neighborhood and invited themselves into the couple’s home.
In another case, Sterio was forced to pay $20,000 in restitution in 2013 to an elderly Pauoa man she convinced to help her pay nonexistent medical bills.
“I’m very happy that we finally ended her crime spree and she’s going to be in jail for a long time,” said Scott Spallina of the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Elder Abuse Justice Unit.
Spallina added: “She used aloha to get inside the home, to get inside the lives of the seniors.”
The Hawaii Paroling Authority will decide how much of the 10-year sentence Sterio must serve before she is considered for release.