LOS ANGELES—A woman was found guilty on Monday, July 25 after being involved in a sweetheart scam with an elderly man, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The woman was arrested in January and faces up to eight years in a state prison when she is sentenced.
Shirley Chrissy Urick, 34, from Victorville was charged with three counts of theft from an elder. The jurors also found that the excessive loss allegations to be true. Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson of the Elder Abuse Section prosecuted the case.
In July 2013, Urick met the 78 year-old victim in a grocery store parking lot. She befriended him under the fake name “Gina Lee” and continued to tell the victim lies. She claimed she needed money and would pay him back.
Over the course of the next 16 months the victim loaned Urick tens of thousands of dollars and paid some of her living expenses. The total amount of money Urick obtained from the victim though a sweetheart scam was over $200,000.
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25. She faces up to eight years in a state prison for the theft of the thousands of dollars from the elderly victim. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Topanga Division.
Canyon News emailed Public Information Officer, Greg Risling from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for more information on the case and is awaiting a reply.
