Social services worker denies taking bribes
A former social CLEVELAND — services worker has pleaded not guilty to engaging in a food-stamp bribery scheme with a Cleveland woman who is now charged with killing and burying her son.
Nancy Caraballo, 45, on Friday made her first court appearance since a grand jury handed up an 18-count indictment charging her and Larissa Rodriguez with bribery, illegal trafficking in food stamps and tampering with records.
Rodriguez is also accused, alongside her boyfriend Christopher Rodriguez, with murder and other charges in the death of her 5-yearold son, Jordan Rodriguez.
Caraballo was ordered jailed on $100,000 bond, and her case was randomly assigned to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo.
Caraballo’s lawyer, Kevin Spellacy, was not immediately available for comment.
Caraballo worked as a parent educator for Catholic Charities, which was contracted by Bright Beginnings, a publicly-funded agency under the umbrella of the county’s Educational Services department, and was assigned to Larissa Rodriguez’s family.
Rodriguez had nine children, and the organization focused on connecting families with young children to educational services.
Caraballo was suppose to make monthly home visits and had a mandatory requirement to report abuse or neglect to authorities, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said at a news conference this week.
She and Rodriguez hatched a plan where Caraballo bought a certain amount of stamps off the mother each month at half-price, and in return, would not report her to authorities, O’Malley said.
Investigators say the scheme began in 2015 and continued through November, and Caraballo bought more than $10,000 in food stamps from Rodriguez.
She also falsified at least 11 reports to make it look like she had visited the home, when in fact she didn’t, investigators said.
Rodriguez’s son, Jordan, was last seen alive in September, and police found his body buried in Rodriguez’s back yard on Dec. 19, after someone called in a tip from Pakistan.
Caraballo visited the home on Dec. 10, and did not report the boy missing.
After investigators found the boy’s body, they search Rodriguez’s home and found it infested with bed bugs and cockroaches, O’Malley said.
Both Bright Beginnings and Catholic Charities said they were shocked to hear of the allegations against Caraballo and are cooperating with investigators. Catholic Charities said they fired Caraballo when they first learned of the allegations.