Thursday, December 26, 2019

Woman accused of theft from elderly Boulder men takes plea deal

Diana Marie Hart
By Mitchell Byars

A woman accused of targeting and bilking two elderly Boulder men out of tens of thousands of dollars has taken a plea deal in both of her cases.

Diana Marie Hart on Monday pleaded guilty to theft between $20,000 and $100,000 and attempted third-degree assault in her 2019 case and pleaded guilty to theft between $20,000 and $100,000 in her 2018 case, according to online court records.

Hart, 65, is set for sentencing on both cases on Feb. 28.

Hart, who remains free on bond, was originally scheduled for two separate trials in March after pleading not guilty, but both of those court dates have now been cancelled with the plea deal.

According to an affidavit, Hart met the named victim in the first case in May 2016 at a concert in Central Park in downtown Boulder. The two struck up a romantic relationship, and the man told investigators that Hart quickly began asking for money to pay bills, to pay off debts and to give to her business partner in Florida. She told the man that the business partner was owed millions of dollars for a patent, and that Hart would eventually collect a portion of it, according to the affidavit.

The man told investigators that he felt uncomfortable giving Hart money, but she would have what he described as severe anxiety attacks and threatened suicide when he told her he wasn’t going to give her any more money. She told the man she was being threatened over her debts and had been kidnapped by the CIA on at least one occasion, according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors say that between cash, cashier’s checks and wire transfers, Hart had scammed the man out of about $141,000.

The assault charge stems from an incident in which the man told police he had dinner with Hart in downtown Boulder and she screamed at him for nearly 20 minutes in the parking lot before striking him in the face, according to the affidavit.

An arrest warrant affidavit in the second case states Hart befriended a different elderly man outside of a Boulder thrift store in June 2018 and convinced him to give her a table and chair set he was donating. The two got to talking and Hart allegedly told him that she was starting a company or nonprofit for women and needed $5 million.

The man told police that he wanted to help out women, so he took out a $100,000 home equity loan and wrote out $77,000 in checks to a woman in Florida who Hart claimed was her attorney.

Police said Hart is known for targeting elderly men with financial means. Hart has arrests in Boulder and Broomfield counties dating from 1984 and including convictions for disorderly conduct, assault, harassment, theft, domestic violence and trespassing. She has a 1999 conviction in Jefferson County for felony assault on an at-risk person. She also has at least one arrest for prostitution.


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Woman accused of theft from elderly Boulder men takes plea deal

2 comments:

Unknown said...

She should have never been offered a plea deal. Scum of the earth like her NEED to be incarcerated. Including all of the elected officials attorneys, care givers and anyone involved in elderly abuse.

Unknown said...

This woman is a complete kleptomaniac. I was housed with her at the Boulder County Jail, in 2019. Women in jail are allowed to purchase bendable writing pens on commissary. Diana stole my pen. All she did was write, constantly. When her pen ran out of ink, she switched it with my new one. For the life of me, I do not know why I was ever housed with this poor excuse for a human being. Diana never showered or washed her "weave." Her stench was absolutely disgusting. Diana Hart should be in prison. Boulder County needs a better prosecutor. The DA here is too soft on people, like Diana and too hard on people who should have never been charged with a crime.