Pennsylvania woman sentenced in elderly fraud case

According to a docket sheet on the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System's website, Amanda Krammes, 43, of Valley View, received sentences after pleading no contest to charges of Identity theft, forgery, access device fraud and theft by unlawful taking in Schuylkill County Court on Jan. 12, The court sentenced Krammes to 6 to 23 months in prison for the identity theft charge while receiving a sentence of three to 12 months for the forgery charges, Krammes was also sentenced to three years probation for access device fraud and two years probation for theft by unlawful taking.

The court documents say the two prison sentences will run concurrently while probation will start after the confinement with the two probation sentences running consecutively.

On the Identity theft charge, work release was approved for Krammes who was also ordered to pay $81,988,81 in restitution.

Charges of criminal use of a communication facility and receiving stolen property were not prosecuted in the case according to a plea agreement.

The sentencing marks the end of a three-plus year investigation into the theft of money from the elderly couple.

The first investigation started in 2019 when the elderly couple told police they received calls from two ladies representing Schuylkill County Court for fines imposed by then Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas Judge Baldwin. The money was transferred out of their bank account as the couple believed the fines were legitimate.

The investigation picked up in July 2021, when the female victim reported fraudulent charges on her debit card. A forensic investigation showed that Krammes, the girlfriend of the couple's son, took approximately $81,900 of the couple's money, using it for rent, insurance, and other utilities and purchases.

The late Matthew Dillman, Hegins Township Police Sergeant, filed the charges on January 28, 2022