Check fraudster gets 9-18 months for $28G scam
MEDIACOURTHOUSE» One of three masterminds in a $28,000 check cashing scheme was sentenced to 9 to 18 months in prison last week on a slew of theft and related charges, though she was given credit for most of the minimum and will only have to serve weekends on the remainder.
Catherine Deorio, 39, was additionally given six consecutive years of probation under the sentence handed down by Common Pleas Court Judge Margaret Amoroso Dec. 8, and was ordered to pay $28,875 in restitution to various victim businesses in the area.
Deorio, of the 2500 block of South 64th Street in Philadelphia, was charged with 11 other people in October 2019 after a vehicle stop in a U-Haul van Aug. 2 uncovered the scheme.
Inside the van were counterfeit checks in the name of Deorio’s brother, David Zacardi, as well as James Alleva and Madeline Halloran. All three were in the van at the time.
Investigators discovered the checks were being produced and issued out of an apartment on the 100 block of Lansdowne Avenue in Lansdowne, which Deorio previously shared with Zicardi and co-defendant Michael Lafferty.
According to information released by the District Attorney’s Office at the time, Deorio began creating fake checks in the names of various fake businesses using an application on her computer sometime in December 2018.
The fraudulent checks were printed on check stock and contained the name of the business, a business phone number, address and a proper routing number but an incorrect account number. Deorio created fake websites and fake reviews for these fraudulent businesses on Yelp, and the websites and phone numbers associated with the checks went to a phone she had in her possession.
Deorio, Lafferty and Zicardi recruited nine others to cash the checks at various local businesses in Montgomery, Philadelphia and Delaware counties. The recruited co-conspirators would give their contact information to Lafferty or Deorio, who would get in touch several days later and pick them up in a car.
Lafferty would drive while Deorio sat in the front passenger seat and Zicardi sat in the back seat, according to investigators. While en route to cash a check, the trio allegedly instructed the recruit on the procedure once inside the store. After the recruit exited the check cashing business, all money would be given to Deorio and she would pay the recruit 25% of the face value of the check, according to police.
A search warrant executed at the Lansdowne apartment uncovered several items related to the alleged scheme, including a silver Acer laptop, HP OfficeJet 3830 printer, a large quantity of blank check stock and numerous counterfeit checks made out to the defendants using the fictitiously created business names, the release says.
Deorio entered open guilty pleas in October to 11 counts of theft by unlawful taking, 32 counts of access device fraud and eight counts of conspiracy. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Schneider, chief of the Economic Crimes Unit, indicated there had been a mistake at that plea hearing, however, which was corrected by removing the access device fraud counts and replacing them with the same number of counts for criminal use of a communication facility. All of the charges were consolidated into three counts – one of each for sentencing purposes.
Schneider sought a sentence in the standard range, noting her office had never intended to “drive hard” on the case and that most of the co-defendants had previously pleaded guilty. She said Lafferty was sentenced earlier this year to 18 to 36 months in prison, but Zicardi is still at large. Schneider said she believes Deorio had made good-faith efforts to bring him in.
Schneider advised at least seven years of supervision given the extensive nature of the crimes, but left it to the judge to decide how that should be broken up between incarceration and probation. She added that it was important that Deorio continue to be employed so she can repay the victims.
Defense attorney Heather Mattis sought a mitigated range sentence with credit for time served and “good time” early release. She noted Deorio has a prior record, but said they are all thefts related to drug addiction.
Mattis said her client, a mother of two, came under the control of an abuser who provided her with drugs at the age of 16 and Deorio reported that she had become addicted to opiates when she was prescribed painkillers following a car accident.
But Mattis added that Deorio has successfully completed drug treatment and is in counseling, now lives on her own and cares for her parents with health issues, has a steady job with a flooring company and routinely attends meetings for addicts. She offered testimony from two people who know Deorio from the program, both of whom described her as being dedicated to sobriety and attending numerous meetings weekly.
Amoroso sentenced Deorio to nine to 18 months, but gave her credit for time served from Oct. 3, 2019, to May 4, 2020, as well as 30 days of in-patient treatment. The remaining 28 days on the balance of the minimum will be served over 14 weekends at the county prison, beginning Feb. 5.