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Suffolk County resident James Mcinerney, of Coram, was convicted following a jury trial of second-degree grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, and resisting arrest following a months-long scheme that saw him bilk a Cold Spring woman out of tens of thousands of dollars.
On Tuesday, Nov. 16, Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy announced that Mcinerney was sentenced to a term of between 7.5 and 15 years in state prison.
Tendy said that between July 2018 and December 2018, using the alias “James Bryant,” Mcinerney posed as the owner of an asset recovery business, making contact with an 85-year-old woman in Cold Spring to tell her she was “being overcharged or fraudulently charged by other companies,” offering to obtain refunds for her.
Tendy said that as a result of those promises, Mcinerney’s victim handed over a total of $103,050 to him over the course of six months, at which point the case was referred to New York State Police.
The investigation led to State Police taking over the victim’s email account, and investigators began speaking with Mcinerney under the guise of “James Bryant.”
Police said that Mcinerney, unaware that he was speaking to State Police, attempted to obtain an additional $7,250 for his victim by falsely claiming that he made a payment to a company on her behalf and she needed to reimburse him for it.
"When imposing the sentence, Judge (Joseph) Spoffard stated that Mcinerney was a 'career criminal' who 'preyed upon' his victim and committed a 'despicable crime," Tendy said.
In addition to the prison sentence, Spofford also issued a criminal order of restitution for his victim to repay the money that was stolen, and an Order of Protection was issued on her behalf.
According to the DA, Mcinerney was arrested on Jan. 11, 2019, when he drove from Long Island to his victim’s home to pick up the check for the reimbursement. Instead, he was met by a plainclothes investigator at the victim’s house who attempted to arrest him.
Tendy said that when the officer attempted to arrest him, Mcinerney physically resisted before ultimately being apprehended.
“There are so many scams out there, sadly our seniors are often targeted,” he added. “We are doing everything we can to educate seniors about these scams and vigorously prosecute these cases when an arrest is made.”
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