Catering Couple Stole Wallet from Funeral Attendee, Prosecutors Say

By Bay City News Service:

An East Palo Alto couple pleaded no contest Friday to identity theft charges for stealing a wallet while working as caterers at a Belmont funeral reception, prosecutors said.

Robert Spiva, 31, pleaded no contest to two counts of identity theft on the condition that he is sentenced to no more than two years in prison, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

His girlfriend, Paige Boswell, 22, pleaded no contest to one count and was sentenced to three years’ probation and must enroll in a residential drug treatment program, prosecutors said.

The couple stole a victim’s wallet with credit cards and a checkbook while working as caterers during a funeral reception at a Belmont home on Aug. 2.

They charged items to the credit cards over the next week until police found the credit cards and other stolen items during a search of their East Palo Alto apartment on Aug. 8, prosecutors said.

Officers also found a box with debit cards and an insurance card stolen from a Woodside couple’s mail weeks earlier.

Both Spiva and Boswell were on probation for an identity theft conviction in April 2013, prosecutors said. Spiva is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6.

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