SALT LAKE CITY — Two people face criminal charges and
more arrests are expected in an extreme case of elder exploitation in
southern Utah.
Prosecutors believe a group of people, led by a man
already on parole, exploited an 80-year-old St. George woman out of more
than a quarter of a million dollars.
Faye Ann Renteria, 41, of St. George, was charged
Thursday in 5th District Court with 10 counts of exploitation of a
vulnerable adult, nine second-degree felonies and one third-degree
felony.
Terrence Quincey Powell, 23, also of St. George, was
charged with seven counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult, one
second-degree felony and six third-degree felonies.
On Tuesday, investigators learned that several men were
taking advantage of an 80-year-old woman, according to a police
affidavit filed in 5th District Court.
“I learned that the elderly woman had written checks and
given these male suspects thousands of dollars in checks and currency,”
the investigating officer who works for Adult Probation and Parole wrote
in the affidavit.
The woman’s family told police she is “not all mentally
cognizant, as she has trouble remembering things, following simple
conversation topics, counting, etc.,” the affidavit states.
The family was concerned about one man in particular, a
man who is married “but was supposedly engaged to the elderly
80-year-old woman,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators only referred to that man as “the parolee” in court documents.
The woman had reportedly signed the family’s cabin over
to this man and given him large amounts of money totaling $150,000 in
three payments, the affidavit states, as well as other smaller payments.
The woman’s family discovered these transactions while helping her with
her bank statements.
The victim met the parolee in March after police say he
knocked on her door and told her he believed her home needed repairs and
he was willing to do it for a fee.
“The elderly woman hired the parolee to repaint the
stucco around her home, paint the window trimmings, resurface the
driveway, miscellaneous yard work, etc. The parolee brought over several
of his workers, one of which included Terrance Powell, to assist him,”
the affidavit states.
As Powell and others were allegedly working, police say
the parolee would talk to the woman and convince her to pay for the
services upfront.
“When I interviewed the elderly woman, I took a look at
the home and noted that these odd jobs were never completed, and the
quality of work was extremely poor. Any reasonable person can see that
these jobs will need to be redone” at a cost of “several thousand
dollars,” according to the affidavit. ”None of the work is finished, and
appears to have caused more damage to her home.”
Powell is accused of continuing to go with the parolee to the woman’s house to perform small jobs.
“For these jobs however, he was paid several thousand
dollars at a time for performing meaningless jobs around the house that
shouldn’t cost more than $100 in total,” the officer wrote.
Powell ended up collecting a total of $13,500 from the
woman “for work that he should have been paid less than $100,” the
affidavit says.
When Powell was arrested, a family member told police
that “it was the idea of the parolee and another male suspect who is at
large at this time. However, being that the checks were written in
Terrance Powell’s name, it shows that he is just as culpable for taking
advantage of her,” according to the affidavit.
After Powell was arrested, agents from Adult Probation
and Parole “went to attempt to locate the parolee to arrest him,” a
second report states.
Investigators went to a residence in Iron County, but
“the parolee fled in a vehicle with three other suspects involved in
this scheme. Agents only observed them fleeing, and were too far behind
to attempt to stop them,” the report states.
Iron County sheriff’s deputies spotted several of the
vehicles and were able to stop one driven by Renteria. She was carrying
$12,000 at the time of her arrest, according to the report.
Another man, whose name was not released, was later
captured, but “the parolee and a second suspect are still at large at
this time,” according to Thursday's affidavit.
When interviewed by police, Renteria said she is the
fiancee of the main parolee suspect police were looking for.
Investigators noted that she was “living off” the elderly woman and
making “extravagant purchases from the very funds that were taken via
deception from the elderly woman.”
“Together she and the parolee purchased an $82,000 GMC
Sierra truck, which was the same one she was driving when she was
arrested. She also admitted that the $12,000 on her person she received
from the parolee who got it from the elderly woman the day prior. Faye
also admitted to purchasing a 2018 Chevy Camaro, and a side by side
RZR,” the affidavit states.
Investigators believe Renteria and the parolee received
at least $264,500 from the St. George woman and said additional charges
are forthcoming.
Full Article & Source:
Group exploited $264K from elderly St. George woman, charges say
