The common law husband of the Texas woman dubbed the “sweetheart swindler” was sentenced Thursday to 125 years in prison for his involvement in the scheme, which targeted elderly people.
Paul Hill, who had pleaded guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity, money laundering, theft of property and jumping bail, will serve the sentences concurrently, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
The longest sentence, for the organized criminal activity charge, is 85 years.
Hill’s common law wife, Desiree Boltos, was sentenced to 263 years in prison in 2018, according to court records, which said Boltos would seduce older people and then drain them of their life savings.
The couple stole more than $3 million from five men and a woman who believed they were in a romantic relationship with Boltos. They spent the money on real estate, gambling debts and cosmetic surgery, prosecutors said.
Hill, 43, often introduced himself to victims as Boltos’ brother.
After Boltos was sentenced, Hill fled, but was arrested in Las Vegas in 2019.
“This should serve as a warning to those who exploit our senior citizens,” Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said. “We are prosecuting these cases and seeking the maximum penalty.”
Boltos’ attorney, Eve Schatelowitz, said Hill’s sentence was “unduly harsh.”
“It was a tragic case for everyone involved,” she said.
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office quoted two of the victims in its statement Thursday.
“Give him justice,” said Dick Olmstead. “I have been denied my freedom. (He should have) loss of freedom too.”
Prosecutors said that Boltos met Olmstead when he was 75. She told him she was a widow, and needed money for legal fees, medical procedures and to “help her ‘brother’ Paul Hill.”
When Olmstead ran out of money in 2013, their affair ended, according to court documents. He had given her nearly $300,000.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
