James William Schmidt faces up to 14 years in prison on each of three counts of felony theft after taking more than $75,000 from Boisean Ruth Harris in late 2008, prosecutors say.
Schmidt pleaded guilty to felony theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Mike Wetherell on Jan. 26.
Schmidt met Harris at a trailer park for retired seniors in 2008, prosecutors say. He sold her an air purifier, then began weaseling his way into her life to gain access to her financial accounts.
Schmidt took Harris to the doctor and drove her to the grocery store, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Medema said.
Harris’ daughter, Ruthann Hiner, said she lives just a mile from her mom. She talks to her mother twice a day, including stopping by on her way home after work. She had no idea about her mom’s friendship with Schmidt, who apparently became familiar with Hiner’s routine.
“He gained her trust very, very quickly,” Hiner said. “He’d tell her, ‘Don’t tell your daughter I’m here.’”
He began asking for loans — which he never repaid. He wrote unauthorized checks on her bank account. She had five credit cards — with balances of zero before they met — and Schmidt used them to make cash transfers and advances.
The financial loss to Harris, including penalties and fees from the unauthorized card transactions, is about $86,000.
Schmidt was both charming and pushy, insisting on “loans” from his victim. Schmidt stole her mother’s mail, Hiner said, which is why it took her some time to figure out what was going on.
Hiner said once her mom confronted Schmidt on the phone, she never saw him again.
Investigators believe Schmidt was living in a motel near Interstate 84 between August and December of 2008. Harris’ family reported their suspicions to police in December.
CHARGES IN WASHINGTON
Ada County prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of 11 years in prison, with eligibility for parole after nine years.
The 6-foot-6 con man’s criminal record reveals that he duped other vulnerable seniors.
Investigators in Washington state filed charges against Schmidt in 2008; he was arrested in January 2009 at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Police suspected that Schmidt had planned to target New Jersey residents, too, according to published reports.
Schmidt pleaded guilty to 12 counts of first-degree theft for stealing from residents in Yakima, Whatcom and Kittitas counties in Washington. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors believe he may have been scamming people for as long as two decades, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported after his 2009 sentencing.
Schmidt had a prior conviction in 2008 on third-degree theft in King County. That conviction stemmed from a 2004 crime, Medema said.
DEBT STILL HANGSOVER VICTIM
Though Schmidt pleaded guilty to theft in the Ada County case, some of the credit card companies have not discharged Harris’ debt.
Hiner said her mom, now 87, is on a fixed income. She lives on $1,200 a month.
“The banks and the collection agencies were calling nonstop. That was really devastating to her,” Hiner said. “She and my dad had lived debt-free their entire lives.”
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
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