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.
### |