Photo Courtesy of AARP
Etienne scammed $20,000 from his 90-year-old victim.
By Forum Staff
A Brooklyn con artist has been convicted at trial of swindling $20,000 from a then-90-year-old California man, Chief Assistant District Attorney John Ryan announced on Friday on behalf of Queens DA Richard Brown.
Following a nearly two-week-long trial, a jury convicted George Etienne, 27, on Thursday of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. Etienne claims to be a member of the Sovereign Nation and not subject to the laws of New York State; however, Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice John Zoll, who presided over the trial, set sentencing for March 28. At that time, Etienne faces up to seven years in prison.
According to trial testimony, in November 2017, victim, who resides in California, was contacted by phone by someone pretending to be his grandson. The caller stated that he had struck a woman with his car and was being held in jail. Switching to a disguised voice, or a second individual got on the phone with the then-90-year-old victim and identified himself as the grandson’s lawyer. This voice instructed the victim to put $20,000 in cash within the pages of a magazine and mail the money via FedEx to a fictitious name and provided an address in Glendale. The elderly man was also told not to require a signature for receipt of the package.
According to trial testimony, the frantic grandfather overnighted the money to the address he was given. Per the caller’s additional instructions, the victim did not tell any family members about the car incident or that his grandson was in jail. The victim testified in court via closed-circuit TV that he would have done anything to help his grandson. The man, who is now 91, was not able to travel to Queens for the trial, as he is in poor health and has a heart condition. The man’s wife also suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and he could not leave her.
Etienne waited outside the Glendale address the following day, according to trial testimony, and approached the FedEx driver when he arrived in the neighborhood. Etienne requested the package and showed the deliveryman a Pennsylvania driver’s license featuring a fictitious name along with a Pennsylvania address. The FedEx worker refused to turn over the package and placed it through a slot at the house to which the mail was addressed.
Etienne then waited for the driver to leave and subsequently knocked on the door of the home. Etienne told the person at the home that a package for him was delivered to the address by mistake and the resident gave him the package.
According to trial records, police officers from the 104th Precinct were in the area and happened to observe Etienne retrieve the package from the residence. Etienne was stopped by the officers and he presented the phony ID; the cops recognized that it was a fake and took him into custody, along with the package.
“The defendant is going to prison now for this loathsome con game,” Ryan said.
