TUCSON, Arizona – On August 14, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Márquez sentenced Margaret Gastelum to 30 months in prison for defrauding a 92 year-old homebound-  victim. The court also ordered Gastelum to pay $184,648 in restitution for the victim’s losses. Gastelum previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud.   

     Gastelum and her daughter, co-defendant Mona Lisa Rodriguez, provided home care assistance for the victim. In her plea agreement, Gastelum admitted that she and Rodriguez gained access to the victim’s banking information and fraudulently used funds from the victim’s bank accounts.  Gastelum and Rodriquez further fraudulently used the victims’ credit cards and overcharged for elder care services without the victim’s knowledge.

     Rodriquez also previously entered a guilty plea for her involvement in the scheme, and is scheduled for sentencing on September 24, 2019.            

     The investigation in this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Tucson Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Kleindienst for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona.

     TUCSON, Ariz. – On Oct. 31, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a 72-count indictment charging Margaret Arlene Gastelum, 59, of San Manuel, Ariz. and Mona Lisa Rodriguez, 36, of  Tucson, Ariz., with an eldercare fraud scheme.  The indictment charged both defendants with conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 16, 2018. 

     The indictment alleges that Gastelum and Rodriguez provided home care assistance for a 91-year-old victim from 2015 through 2017. The defendants gained access to the victim’s banking information and fraudulently transferred/and or used funds from the victim’s bank accounts.  Additionally, the defendants fraudulently used the victim’s credit cards and obtained credit cards without the victim’s full knowledge and consent. The indictment also alleges that the defendants overcharged the victim for the services without the victim’s knowledge.  As a result of the defendants’ scheme to defraud, the victim suffered a loss of approximately $184,000. 

     A conviction for the charged conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. A conviction for bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of thirty years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine, or both. A conviction for wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. A conviction for aggravated identity theft carries a minimum mandatory sentence of two years in prison that must be served consecutively to the ultimate sentence imposed relating to the other charges in this case.

     An indictment is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

     The investigation in this case was conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Tucson Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Kleindienst for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson.

 

CASE NUMBER:                  CR-02219-RM-LAB

RELEASE NUMBER:           2018-148_Gastellum et al 

 

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az