Kentucky woman bought a pool, car, other items with $582,000 stolen from older man
A Kentucky woman has been sentenced to four years in prison after conning an elderly man out of nearly $600,000 and using the money to buy a car and install a swimming pool, among other purchases.
A judge also ordered Donna Jean Bradshaw, 57, of Lebanon, to pay $582,635 in restitution.
Another Marion County woman who helped Bradshaw with the scams, Tammy Lynn Gilbert, 49, was placed on supervised release for five years, fined $1,000 and ordered to repay the victim $10,000, according to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department.
The scheme started with Bradshaw’s desire to make renovations to her home, Assistant U.S Attorney David Weiser said in a sentencing memorandum.
Bradshaw told a man identified in court records as “L.P.” that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had a program that would reimburse him for money he spent to improve Bradshaw’s home and to pay her mortgage, according to the memo.
Bradshaw gave L.P. fake OSHA documents about the fictitious program. She also got Gilbert to call him, pretending to be an OSHA employee, and give him information from a script Bradshaw provided, Weiser said.
Bradshaw also came up with a second scheme to defraud L.P., saying she had inherited a large amount of money but that she needed money from him to pay expenses before the windfall could be released, the prosecutor said.
Bradshaw made false documents about the inheritance, using the name of a Louisville law firm, and forged the name of a lawyer from the firm on them, according to the prosecution memo.
And again, Bradshaw got Gilbert to call L.P. posing as an employee of the law office to confirm that Bradshaw was in line to inherit money but needed to pay some expenses.
There was no inheritance, according to the court record.
“Donna Bradshaw had caviar tastes and a hot dog budget,” Weiser wrote in the memo. “To resolve this discrepancy, between March 2013 and June 2016, she planned and executed a scheme to defraud L.P. of over half a million dollars.”
Bradshaw’s total income between 2013 and 2016 was $54,528, but she spent $399,499 in that period, the prosecutor said.
Bradshaw and Gilbert pleaded guilty on bank fraud and wire fraud charges.
U.S. District Judge David J Hale sentenced Bradshaw and Gilbert Tuesday.
This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the National Elder Justice Task Force and the Kentucky Elder Justice Task Force.
To report fraud against older people, call 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
