Man Convicted of Scamming Cold Spring Senior of More Than $103,000
Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy announced Tuesday Coram resident James Mcinerney was convicted of scamming an 85-year-old Cold Spring woman of more than $103,000.
“There are so many scams out there, sadly our seniors are often targeted,” Tendy said. “We are doing everything we can to educate seniors about these scams and vigorously prosecute these cases when an arrest is made.”
During the jury trial, it was revealed from July 2018 to December 2018, Mcinerney, using the alias “James Bryant,” claimed to be the owner of an asset recovery business. He contacted a woman in Cold Spring, alleged she was being overcharged or fraudulently charged by other companies, and offered to obtain refunds for her.
As a result of those promises, the victim gave Mcinerney $103,050 over approximately six months. The case was turned over to the New York State Police. Investigators were given control of the victim’s email account and began communicating with the person believed to be “James Bryant.”
Unaware he was speaking to law enforcement officials, Mcinerney attempted to obtain an additional $7,250 by falsely claiming he made a payment to a company on the victim’s behalf that she needed to reimburse him for. He was arrested on January 11, 2019 when he drove from Long Island to the victim’s residence to pick up a check from the victim.
After a plainclothes investigator in the victim’s house identified himself as a member of the State Police, Mcinerney physically resisted the investigator’s attempts to place him under arrest.
Mcinerney is scheduled to be sentenced by County Court Judge Joseph J. Spofford, Jr. on August 17 on charges of grand larceny in the second degree, attempted grand larceny in the third degree and resisting arrest. He faces a maximum aggregate sentence of 9 ½ to 19 years’ in state prison.
Tendy thanked the members of the jury for their careful consideration of the evidence in the case and the State Police, particularly Senior Investigator Paul Schneeloch of the Major Crimes Unit and Investigator Steven Schmoke of the Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team, for their work in the investigation of this case.
The case was prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Larry Glasser and Assistant District Attorney Mackenzie Ferguson.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
