Grandparent scammer sentenced to 1 year in jail

A 32-year-old New York man who participated in a plot to steal $20,000 from a Port Washington couple using the grandparent scam in 2022, then was tracked down by police officers two years later, was sentenced last week in Ozaukee County Circuit Court to one year in jail.

Yearly M. Conde, a Haverstraw, N.Y., resident, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of being party to the crime of theft by false representation during a Jan. 22 hearing.

Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain withheld a prison sentence, placed Conde on probation for three years and ordered him to serve one year in jail as a condition of probation.

According to court records, Conde has paid $20,000 in restitution.

The investigation that led authorities to Conde began on July 9, 2022, when a woman reported to police that her parents, who live in Port Washington, were scammed out of $20,000, according to a criminal complaint.

The couple told police officer Gary Belzer they received a call from a man who had a foreign accent and identified himself as Thomas Wilson.

They said the man told them their grandson was in trouble and needed $20,000, then instructed them to send it in cash to an address he gave them via UPS next-day service.

The couple said they went to a BMO Bank and withdrew $20,000 in cash. When questioned by the teller about the withdrawal, the couple made up a story about using the money to remodel their basement because they believed they needed the cash to help their grandson.

The couple shipped the money via UPS the next day as instructed. They gave the UPS receipt to Belzer, but by then the package was probably delivered.

The couple had the phone number of the man who identified himself as Wilson, and Belzer, posing as a relative of the couple, called it. A man with a foreign accent who identified himself as Thomas Wilson answered but said he was a plumber and knew nothing about the transaction. Not wanting to spook the man, Belzer hung up.

The phone number belonged to Skype and apparently did not provide authorities with any leads.

Officer Ryan Hurda then followed up by tracking the UPS package, which was delivered at 8:14 a.m. July 7, 2022, to an address in West Haverstraw, N.Y.

Hurda called the West Haverstraw Police Department, and an officer there was able to find security video from a church across the street from where the package was delivered that showed a man sitting on the front steps of a house take delivery of the package.

Conde and a woman named Nikaury Marte lived at the home at the time, according to the complaint.

Marte was arrested on July 29, 2022, in connection with a similar but separate scam during a sting operation conducted by the New York State Police. She was apprehended after receiving a package that contained $25,000 in cash, the complaint states.

Marte told authorities that Conde was the man seen in the video receiving the package containing the $20,000 from the Port Washington couple, according to the complaint.

When interviewed by a Haverstraw police detective, Conde said a man from New York City offered to pay him for receiving packages that were then picked up by a courier. For this service, Conde was paid 10% of the money in the package, the complaint states.

Conde admitted he received the package containing the Port couple’s money, according to the complaint.