A woman in Florida has been sentenced to serve time behind bars after defrauding an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, according to reports.
36-year-old Peaches Stergo was handed a four-year prison sentence on Thursday for scamming $2.8 million out of her New York-based elderly victim over nearly half a decade.
Stergo, who claimed that they were driven by “greed,” previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection to running the online dating scam. During her sentencing, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos called her actions “unspeakably cruel.”
“Peaches Stergo callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was simply looking for companionship,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
“She used the millions of dollars in fraud proceeds to live a life of luxury at the victim’s expense. But she did not get away with it. As today’s sentence demonstrates, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes,” Williams continued in his statement.
During the course of the online romance scam, federal officials said that Stergo and the victim first met online in May 2017. To pay for legal fees associated with injury compensation, Stergo initially requested that the victim borrow money.
The Florida con artist continued to demand that he continually deposit money into her account, threatening to freeze her accounts and telling him he would never be able to get his money back.
As the scam went on, Stergo taunted the victim and bragged about her fraudulent lifestyle in text messages, per the prosecutors.
“I am just aggravated, hurt, frustrated that I haven’t made money… I don’t want to work… it’s too hard,” Stergo reportedly told the victim.
Prior to reaching a plea deal, Stergo faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. Prosecutors had previously called her actions “sick” and “sad.”
In addition to her four-year sentence, she was also ordered to provide the victim with more than $2.8 million in restitution. After being released from prison, she received a term of three years of probation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation offered support for the investigation as well.
