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A 38-year-old woman with a criminal history of scamming the elderly has been charged with stealing from an older Mililani woman.
Katy Sterio was charged Saturday night with unauthorized possession of confidential personal information and theft of a credit card. Her bail was set at $200,000.
Her alleged accomplice, Dino Costello, 38, was charged with theft of a credit card. His bail was set at $20,000.
Police said Sterio and Costello entered a 68-year-old woman’s home about 5 p.m. April 4, and Sterio took two credit cards while Costello distracted the victim. Sterio then allegedly used the cards at various stores.
Police arrested the pair about 10 a.m. Friday at a Waikiki hotel where they have been living.
In 2012, Sterio scammed a 73-year-old Pauoa man out of $22,000. She served a year in jail for theft and repaid the man.
A prosecutor in that case said Sterio convinced the man that she needed the money to pay for another woman’s stomach cancer surgery.
In California, Sterio and another woman persuaded a 77-year-old man in 2007 to give them a car and credit in his name, which they used to buy $28,000 in jewelry. Both women were sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to repay the victim.
Gypsies
I’m not saying that odious criminals who target the elderly should be frog marched to a vacant lot and given a coup de grace by application of a .45 slug to the back of the skull, but such people are just the thinnest of slivers less evil than those who prey on children, the mentally ill or the infirm. The tendency for them is to repeat offend even after being caught because what they practice are generally considered nonviolent crimes with correspondingly light prison sentences. It’s a good thing that in some states certain crimes against the elderly merit enhanced sentencing.
Agree. they will continue to prey on the weak and if the Department of Public Safety gives them a pass due over crowding, wrong message being sent to all these peopl, especially homeless.
Unfortunately Hawaii isn’t one of them.
I think a bullet to the back of the head is not such a terrible idea in this case…….
Robbing the elderly of their retirement savings destroys their lives, and in many cases, shorten their lives = murder. Make the punishment match the crime!
68 isn’t really elderly now days. Not sure why that term (elderly) is even relevant to the story.
Because you are elligble to collect social security at age 62…..have respect forward your elders…and criminals prey on that SS check if they are in poor health, to include MMD, mental melt down. You are right though, paddle with guys in their 70’s and some of them are collecting 3 retirements, social security included.
Serial scammer. She needs to be put away for a long time.
Parasites that prey on their own species, especially the elderly and helpless. They expect others to toil and accumulate enough savings for themselves so that they can appropriate their hard earned nest egg. No feelings for the victims nor themselves have any soul. These are evil people.
I agree with the sentiment but we have a massive problem with too many people in prison.
Also, I don’t like the idea of the taxpayer having to pay for the lodging, meals and medical care for these POS for the next K years.
Yet, capital punishment seems inappropriate.
I don’t know the answer.
The reason we have too many people in prison is disclosed in this very story. It says “…A 38-year-old woman with a criminal history of scamming the elderly “
Back to my point. Our judicial system doesn’t give sentences. It gives “time-outs”. Little “mini” sentences that people don’t learn from or fear as a deterrent BECAUSE they know they’ll just get out….AGAIN – ASIDE from the fact that it just recycles criminals onto our streets.
You speak of not wanting to pay to house these people. We ARE paying for them in 100 DIFFERENT ways. WE absorb the repetitive cost of prosecuting, higher insurance premiums for theft, and outright govt assistance for what they lost.
Raise my taxes 5% and DEDICATE it to building MORE prisons and housing these scumbags. Once REAL sentences START getting handed out, others will defer.
I say bring back chain gangs. Think “Cool Hand Luke”.
Come down harped on this theft
More criminal mainlanders moving here because of Hawaii’s “slap-on-the-risk” criminal-justice system. Word gets around quickly in the hood.
First rule, NEVER let strangers into your home. The pair tells the husband and wife homeowners that they are roofers and are offering them a free roof inspection. Yet, the pair is walking around INSIDE the home. RED FLAG… That’s when the female goes into the dining area alone and searches through the woman’s purse. Luckily, the homeowners have security cameras inside and outside the home. Never once saw them looking at the roof. Check out the video on KHON2 site.