Wife Of Man Who Faked Death Overseas Faces Sentence In Fraud

Dec. 21--The wife of Jose Lantigua, the Jacksonville businessman who planned a movie-like scam that included faking his death in Venezuela, will be sentenced Wednesday for her role in a high-dollar fraud.

Daphne Simpson, 58, pleaded guilty in July to conspiring with Lantigua, who owned Circle K Furniture, to collect on life insurance policies he held that were worth millions.

While she eventually traveled to South America and North Carolina to make the lie believable, a prosecutor told the judge months ago that Simpson was "hoodwinked" into the scam by Lantigua's fake story that her whole family was in danger from a dead drug cartel leader's son bent on revenge.

Simpson's own attorney built on that explanation last week, filing papers that tried to convince U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan she shouldn't be sent to prison.

Simpson already spent 16 months in the Duval County jail before pleading guilty, attorney L.E. Hutton noted, and "lost the ability to trust and look for the good in others" after being duped by her husband.

Hutton argued that Simpson, who had no criminal history, had been brainwashed by her husband. He said she could be best handled by being sentenced to time served and court-ordered supervision with mental health counseling to help rehabilitate her. She could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison.

Hutton wrote that Simpson has begun the process of divorcing Lantigua, 63, who won't be sentenced until February.

Lantigua had insurance policies worth $6.6 million before he was reported dead, and Simpson fought a string of court battles trying to collect from companies who claimed -- correctly -- they were being defrauded.

Those fights stopped last year, when federal agents stopped a Jeep carrying Simpson and Lantigua through a mountain community near Asheville, N.C. He had been living under a fake name in a house the couple bought before his supposed death.

Steve Patterson: (904) 359-4263

___

(c)2016 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.