Toms River Man Admits $100K Fraud Of Blind Woman He Befriended

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man has pleaded guilty to defrauding a legally blind senior citizen he had befriended, enriching himself by more than $100,000, and threatening to harm her when she questioned him about the fraud, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Tyler W. Dietlmeier, 28, pleaded guilty on Friday to theft by deception and criminal coercion before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18, and the state will be seeking a seven-year sentence on the theft charge and four years on the coercion charge, he said.

Dietlmeier will also be required to make restitution to his victim.

"To stoop so low as to take advantage of an elderly person, who also happens to live alone and is legally blind, is about as reprehensible as it gets," Billhimer said. "Let the message be sent that we will not tolerate con artists who prey upon and victimize our seniors and the disabled."

The fraud was reported to Toms River police on Jan. 27. Investigators learned Dietlmeier had befriended, under false pretenses, a 73-year-old legally blind woman who lived alone.

Starting in October 2019, Dietlmeier opened numerous credit card accounts in the victim’s name without her permission, added his name as an authorized user to her existing accounts, increased the credit limits on existing accounts, and changed the phone numbers on some of her accounts so that any fraud alerts from the credit card companies would go directly to him, the prosecutor's office said.

Dietlmeier also rented cars using her information, and accessed her bank accounts. In most cases, Dietlmeier used the victim’s credit cards to buy gift cards that he then sold for cash.

He fraudulently obtained more than $100,000 through his criminal scheme, Billhimer said.

When the victim questioned Dietlmeier about the fraud, he threatened to harm her and her family if she called police.

Dietlmeier was arrested Feb. 6 in Plainsboro by the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division, and has been in the Ocean County Jail since.

"We will continue to be vigilant investigating and prosecuting crimes committed against the most vulnerable in our community who, because of their age or disability, simply cannot fight for themselves," Billhimer said.

Assistant Prosecutors Christopher Heisler, Taylor Toscano, and Timothy Kelly who handled the case. The Toms River Township Police Department, its Detective Bureau, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division took part in the investigation.

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