5 Years For Woman Who Scammed Elderly Palatine Man For $4 Million

PALATINE, IL — Corinne Dziesiuta, the woman who pleaded guilty to charges that she scammed an elderly Palatine man out of more than $4.1 million in a sweepstakes scheme that lasted six years, was sentenced to spend five years in prison by a federal judge this week. Dziesiuta, who used the name "Lisa Conti" in the telephone scheme that originated at a call center she worked at in Costa Rica, was arrested when she flew to LaGuardia Airport in New York last year to receive in-person payments from the man.

U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin on Tuesday imposed the 60-month sentence in federal court in Chicago, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois announced.

Dziesiuta, 39 was accused of making numerous telephone calls and sending letters to the Palatine victim, telling him he won millions of dollars in a sweepstakes but had to pay various fees and taxes in order to collect the money, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. She and her co-schemers "tricked and bullied" the man into transferring large sums of money to accounts she and her co-schemers controlled. An investigation revealed that the man made 37 payments, ranging from $23,751 to $210,000 in the scheme.

Dziesiuta pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in August.

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