NY man sentenced for 'grandparent' scams, including one in Keene

Dec. 12—A New York state man has been sentenced to at least five to 10 years in N.H. State Prison for his role in perpetrating "grandparent" scams in 2020, including one that defrauded a Keene man, according to the N.H. Attorney General's Office.

Elvis Guzman, 45, of Albany, N.Y., pleaded guilty Friday in Rockingham County Superior Court to six counts of theft by deception and three counts of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, N.H. Attorney General John M. Fomella said in a news release that day. All these charges are class A felonies.

Prosecutors say that from Oct. 27 to Nov. 6, 2020, Guzman's two co-conspirators called 10 older adult victims throughout the state and deceived them into believing that their grandchildren were arrested and needed money to pay bail. The co-conspirators falsely told several victims that they were not to speak about the matter to anyone because they were under a "gag order," the attorney general's office said in the release.

One of Guzman's co-conspirators, Starlyn J. Lara Pimental, a 27-year-old Massachusetts man, was sentenced in February to two to five years for his role in the scams. The identity of the other co-conspirator is not public and they have not been charged, Bryan J. Townsend II, senior assistant attorney general, said Monday.

Townsend added that one of the charges Guzman pleaded guilty to involved defrauding an 86-year old Keene man of $18,000.

Prosecutors claim an "unknown coconspirator" contacted the local man on Nov. 2, 2020, pretending to be his grandson. The impostor said he'd been arrested after a vehicle crash and asked for $18,000 for bail, according to previous Sentinel reporting. Guzman traveled to Keene that day, met the Keene man in a shopping center parking lot and collected the $18,000 from him.

A co-conspirator posing as the "grandson's" lawyer requested another $32,000 the following day and sent Pimental to Keene to collect it, The Sentinel reported previously. When the Elm City man went to withdraw the additional money, a bank manager suspected he was being scammed, and contacted the man's grandchild to confirm. Police then arranged a sting operation that night to arrest Pimental.

According to the attorney general's office, Guzman served as a courier during multiple scams, picking up a sum total of $119,000 from seven victims.

Guzman was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison on the theft by deception conviction and has also been ordered to pay $119,000 in restitution to seven victims.

The court sentenced Guzman to 7 1/2 to 15 years on the conspiracy to commit theft by deception conviction, all of which was suspended on the condition that he maintain good behavior and pay restitution, the release states. In addition, Guzman is also prohibited from contacting the victims, working with elderly or vulnerable adults, serving as a fiduciary and working in any capacity that involves soliciting money directly from a consumer unless he obtains prior court approval.

Guzman's attorney was not immediately available to comment on the sentencing Monday.

According to the AARP, grandparent scams are common and can involve callers claiming to be grandchildren who have been robbed, arrested, in an accident, hospitalized or stuck in a foreign country. The "grandchild" often will hand the phone over to someone seemingly authoritative, such as a supposed doctor or lawyer, and ask their grandparent not to tell their parents.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of elder abuse or financial exploitation, contact your local police department and the Department of Health and Human Services' Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services at 1-800-949-0470, Formella said in the release.

Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8546, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.

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