A
Spring Valley man has been ordered to pay $10,000 to a World War II veteran in El Cajon for defrauding the 90-year-old man. He recently finished his 270-day jail term.
Justin Michael Bridges, 34, gained access to the house of Robert Laesch, 90, because he worked for a heating and air conditioning repair company and made repairs in Laesch’s home. After he lost his job, Bridges returned to Laesch’s home on a ruse to check the repairs.
A
Spring Valley man has been ordered to pay $10,000 to a World War II veteran in El Cajon for defrauding the 90-year-old man. He recently finished his 270-day jail term.
Justin Michael Bridges, 34, gained access to the house of Robert Laesch, 90, because he worked for a heating and air conditioning repair company and made repairs in Laesch’s home. After he lost his job, Bridges returned to Laesch’s home on a ruse to check the repairs.
Deputy District Attorney Matthew Dix said Bridges showed up with a computer and a thermometer and took a temperature of each room. Bridges asked the veteran to go outside to check the breaker on the electrical panel.
Laesch kept $10,000 in cash under his mattress, and Bridges stole that money and an I-phone belonging to his granddaughter in July, 2016. El Cajon Superior Court Judge Lantz Lewis ordered the restitution paid after the victim testified in court at a separate hearing.
Additionally, Bridges was ordered to pay $3,000 to four other victims including Laesch’s granddaughter for the loss of her I-phone at his sentencing by Judge Daniel Lamborn, who placed him on three years probation.
Lamborn ordered Bridges to stay away from businesses in Lemon Grove, La Mesa, Jamul, and El Cajon where he had committed thefts. Dix said Bridges would go into these businesses and “chat up” with a clerk and then steal employees’ cell phones, which were believed to be sold in Mexico.
Bridges pleaded guilty to burglarizing the World War II veteran’s home and commercial burglary of a 7-Eleven store in Jamul. The other charges were dismissed on condition he repay the losses to the other stores. The charges were mostly burglaries with the theory that he entered the businesses with the intent to commit theft.
Lamborn fined Bridges $1,433. If Bridges violates probation, he could be sentenced to six years and eight months in state prison, according to court records.
Woman faces 18 years for robbery and carjacking
A woman who stole money from an El Cajon hair salon and then committed a carjacking is facing up to 18 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to all charges.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge John Thompson will sentence Shannin Suzette Marsh, 46, who is also known as Shannin Schmitt, on March 15. Marsh entered the salon at 437 E. Main on Feb. 24, 2015 by acting as a customer.
Marsh pulled a handgun and robbed an employee, taking her purse which contained money, and credit cards, said Deputy District Attorney Lucille Yturralde. A witness saw her leave in a dark colored SUV and took a picture of the license plate. About two hours later, Marsh carjacked a woman and took her car.
El Cajon Police found one of the vehicles in a parking lot at 3835 Avocado in El Cajon, and she was found nearby and arrested. She has a prior record of robbery and commercial burglary.
The case was delayed after questions arose about her mental competency, but a judge later found she was competent to stand trial. Marsh remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility on $200,000 bail.
Lemon Grove woman pleads guilty for Social Security fraud
A Lemon Grove woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing $170,276 in Social Security benefits in her late father’s name.
Pamela Anita Thomas did not inform the Social Security Administration that her father, Be Lee Gilbert, died in 2001, and continued to accept his Social Security payments in her late father’s bank account via direct deposit. She transferred the money for her own use, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Thomas will be sentenced Feb. 27 by U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Bashant. She remains free on $5,000 bond.
Thomas could be sentenced to a maximum 10-year term in federal prison, and is likely facing a restitution order for the full amount. She had power of attorney over her father’s affairs, according to court records.
“By collecting benefits that did not belong to them, this defendant took money away from those who need it most—elderly retires, people with severe illnesses and widows and children of deceased wage earners,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy.
“This office will continue to investigate and prosecute fraud and waste in these important government programs,” said Duffy in a press release.
