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For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
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July 28, 2010

Office of The Attorney General
- Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Stephen J. Taylor, Director

Media Inquiries-
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925

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Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing $164,900 from West Orange Man

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TRENTON – A con artist who was captured in Florida in May pleaded guilty today to a theft charge, admitting she and another woman conned an elderly West Orange man out of $164,900 by feigning romantic attachment to him and pretending they needed loans for business ventures.

Brenda Miguel, 48, a.k.a. “Girl Z,” formerly of Newark, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception before Superior Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex County. Miguel provided $60,000 in restitution at the time of the guilty plea. She also signed a consent judgment to pay the remaining $104,900. Miguel admitted that she and her co-defendant, Susan Frank, 46, a.k.a. “Chicken,” stole the money by making the victim believe he was making business loans that would be repaid. Miguel must cooperate in the ongoing case against Frank, formerly of Elizabeth, who is a fugitive and whose last known location was Texas.

Judge Petrolle scheduled sentencing for Sept. 1st and ordered that Miguel be held incarcerated on $1 million bail pending sentencing. The state will recommend that Miguel be sentenced in the third-degree range, at the judge’s discretion, with a minimum sentence of five years of probation. Third-degree crimes can carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison, but there is a presumption against incarceration for defendants with no prior felony convictions. This will be Miguel’s first felony conviction. She has been jailed since her arrest on May 6 in Orlando, Fla. Deputy Attorney General Francine Ehrenberg took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau.

Miguel belongs to a group of transient con artists who prey on the elderly. She and Frank were indicted on June 20, 2007 on charges of conspiracy, theft by deception and money laundering. The charges against Frank are pending. Miguel introduced herself to the victim, a retired financial adviser, at a diner in Linden in July 2003. Miguel, who used the alias Theresa Pachino, told the victim she was a hotel designer and remodeler who needed financing to complete a project. The victim provided Miguel with cash and checks totaling about $104,900 for her purported business. In 2004, Miguel introduced the victim to Frank, who used the alias Paulina Johns. Frank allegedly claimed to need funding for a national cleaning business she inherited. In October 2004, the victim allegedly provided Frank with three checks totaling $60,000.

Miguel was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. She was returned to New Jersey on June 28 by the U.S. Marshals Service. The investigation was conducted and coordinated for the Division of Criminal Justice by Lt. James MacInnes and Deputy Attorney General Ehrenberg.

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