Forty-five-year-old Kristina Galjour pleaded guilty
to theft of more than $25,000 and three counts of practicing law
without a license.
Story at a glance
- A woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to posing as an attorney to steal $2 million from an autistic man’s trust fund.
- Galjour reportedly began identifying herself as an attorney in 2016 after the man’s parents died in 2015, before convincing him to give her power of attorney.
- Prosecutors said she then began to drain his assets.
A woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to posing as an attorney in an attempt to steal $2 million from an autistic man’s trust fund.
Forty-five-year-old Kristina Galjour pleaded guilty to theft of more than $25,000 and three counts of practicing law without a license, according to court records viewed by Nola.com. Galjour’s guilty plea also includes crimes committed against five other people.
Galjour reportedly began identifying herself as an attorney in 2016 after the man’s parents died — leaving him a trust fund and a home — before convincing him to give her power of attorney. Prosecutors said she then began to drain his assets.
The outlet reported that Galjour allegedly used the money she siphoned to cover a variety of purchases, including a Jaguar. And in 2017, she reportedly convinced him to give her control of his home after telling him a group of neighbors was trying to have him committed to an institution. She drained his assets by the time he reported the thefts, the outlet noted.
Galjour was arrested in 2019.
Judge Frank Brindisi ordered Galjour to pay restitution to all of the victims, including $1.3 million to the man, court records said, per Nola.
"He's a little bit in shock," Erica Dudas, a neighbor and
advocate for the 59-year-old man, told the outlet. "I'm glad it's over,
and he finally understands that people believe him over her.
20 years seems just about right. I wish she serves every day of it.
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