FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Brooklyn Waitress Sentenced to up to Nine Years in Prison for
Stealing Almost $500,000 from Elderly Diner Patron
Defendant Became Trusted Confidant, Gained Access to Victim’s Accounts
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 46-year-old woman from Flatlands, Brooklyn has been sentenced to three to nine years in prison pursuant to her guilty plea to grand larceny. The defendant stole approximately $470,000 from a customer who frequented a diner where she worked as a waitress.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant preyed on an elderly and lonely widow, gained her trust and then used the victim’s money as her own private bank account to pay for gambling, vacations and other expenses. Her greedy betrayal was egregious and deplorable. My Office will remain vigilant in protecting our seniors and other vulnerable residents from abuse and exploitation.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Alicia P. Legall, 46, of Flatlands, Brooklyn. She was sentenced yesterday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to an indeterminate term of three to nine years in prison following her guilty plea last month to second-degree grand larceny. She also signed a judgment order of restitution for $470,299.
The District Attorney said that, according to the indictment, between June 2012 and December 2016, Legall stole approximately $470,000 from an elderly widow who was in her 80’s. The defendant befriended the victim, beginning in 2002, while she was a waitress at the local diner that the woman patronized. Over the course of several years, she gained access to the victim’s personal information, including her date of birth, address, social security number, and bank and credit card information.
The defendant had permission to use the victim’s credit cards for small purchases at local drug stores and supermarkets, but she abused that trust. Specifically, the investigation found, she stole more than $200,000 by cashing 75 checks written to herself or cash on the woman’s HSBC bank account. Each of the checks contained the victim’s forged signature.
Furthermore, according to the indictment, from March 2013 through April 2016, the defendant stole $277,789 by making unauthorized charges against the woman’s Citibank Sears Mastercard accounts, including $73,399 in cash advances and $204,390 in purchases from various retailers including Apple, JetBlue, Victoria’s Secret, New York Racing Authority’s buffets and bars, Harrah’s in Atlantic City, hotels, clubs and restaurants in Miami and other parts of Florida, and Belmont Racetrack.
In addition to the financial theft, the defendant stole the victim’s identity by opening additional lines of credit and creating online profiles with horse wagering websites such as TwinSpires and Churchill Downs, using the victim’s social security number, date of birth, home address and Mastercard, but using her own email and phone number.
The case was investigated by Detectives Rocco Russo and Jackson Todd of the New York City Police Department’s Financial Crimes Task Force, with the assistance of Deborah Wey, Supervising Financial Investigator of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
The was case prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Karen P. Turner, of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division.
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