LOS ANGELES — A West Hills woman has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars for her role in a nearly $3.9 million scheme that included forged power-of-attorney and will documents; and the dismemberment and disposal of the body of one of her victims, prosecutors said Monday.
Caroline Herrling, 44, also known as Carrie Phenix, was sentenced late Friday by U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, who also ordered the defendant to pay $3.88 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Herrling pleaded guilty last year in downtown Los Angeles to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“This defendant’s misconduct was both greedy and grotesque, causing profound pain to the victims and their loved ones,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “There must be serious consequences for those who prey on vulnerable communities, such as older adults, and my office will remain steadfast in bringing these offenders to justice.”
Prosecutors said Herrling and her accomplices sought out vulnerable victims by searching for properties in affluent neighborhoods that appeared unkempt, in hopes of finding incapacitated individuals unable to care for their homes. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Herrling would use online mapping programs and search upscale neighborhoods for homes with algae-filled swimming pools or overgrown shrubs.
In 2020, she found such a home in Sherman Oaks, and she and her associates broke into the residence, where an older man lived. But at some point in September 2020, the man died from still-unknown causes, and prosecutors said Herrling and others took over the property and looted the man’s assets while his body was decomposing in the home.
Herrling used a forged power-of-attorney form to steal his real estate and financial accounts, prosecutors said.
In October 2021, neighbors reported the man — 71-year-old Charles Wilding — missing, and police began investigating. When…
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