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Woman gets jail after using couple’s information to go on spending spree

WAILUKU — Saying a defendant hadn’t adequately apologized to a Kahului couple she victimized, a judge Friday ordered an 18-month jail term for a woman who opened 19 credit card accounts and stole more than $26,000 after obtaining the couple’s personal information.

Josalyn Asuncion, 24, was placed on four years’ probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo denied Asuncion’s request for a chance to keep convictions off her record.

“I cannot even understand why you’re asking,” Loo told Asuncion. “But for the fact that you got arrested and charged for this, you would have kept going and going and going.”

Asuncion, who is also known as Josalyn Nicole Felix, had pleaded no contest to first-degree theft, 14 counts of second-degree theft, fourth-degree theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.

The crimes occurred from February to May 2016, victimizing 71-year-old Julio Clemente and his wife, Rosalinda, said Deputy Prosecutor Jeffery Temas.

He said Asuncion, who was homeless and unemployed, often visited Julio Clemente at his home to play cards and take showers. On one visit, she saw the couple’s tax return on a table and obtained their personal information, Temas said.

“She used that information, and then she went on a spending spree,” he said.

Asuncion applied to many banks for lines of credit, using a former boyfriend’s address, Temas said.

He said she opened credit accounts, which allowed her “to take cash advances for drug purchases and to live a lifestyle she could not afford.”

The Clementes’ bank account was the hub and its spokes were the credit card accounts that were part of Asuncion’s financial fraud scheme, Temas said.

“Julio did not suspect this defendant would have done this. He told her so,” Temas said. “That’s how much trust he had in her. And that’s after he learned his American Savings Bank accounts were drained.”

Defense attorney Ben Lowenthal said that the case was “a classic example of property crimes that are committed because of drug addiction.”

He said Asuncion hadn’t been able to repay the Clementes, in part, because she has been in jail for nearly a year.

“She’s sobered up, realizes that she has a lot to lose,” Lowenthal said. “She is genuinely sorry for what she has done and what she has caused the Clementes.”

Looking toward the Clementes, who were in the courtroom gallery Friday, Asuncion said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for my behavior.”

Alfredo Evangelista, an attorney for the Clementes, said that they continue to feel the effects of Asuncion’s crimes.

A few months ago, the Clementes were turned down when they applied for $1,300 in credit to buy a refrigerator from Home Depot, Evangelista said.

“Before this incident happened, they could easily get credit for $10,000,” he said.

The Clementes also had to change their mailing address, incurring the cost of a post office box, which Evangelista estimated they would need for about five years.

He said the couple objected to Asuncion’s deferral request and the length of the jail term, which the defense and prosecution had agreed to.

“My clients believe 18 months is not enough because my clients will suffer this for a long, long time,” Evangelista said.

He said most of the restitution sought by the Clementes was for legal fees because they had to hire a lawyer to help them deal with credit card companies.

“This is a new wave of a type of crime we’re seeing in our community,” Evangelista said.

In sentencing Asuncion, Loo followed a plea agreement calling for the 18-month jail term. But she told the defendant, “One slip and you are going to go to prison.”

Making reference to the movie “La La Land,” Loo said that Asuncion’s two-page letter to the court was “blah blah land.”

“It was an award-winning letter,” Loo said. “This letter downplays your role in ruining Mrs. Clemente’s vacation to the Philippines, ruining their savings, ruining their credit for however long.

“It’s all about you. It goes on and on and on about ‘me, me me.'”

Loo said that the letter had one sentence of Asuncion apologizing.

Although Asuncion said that the 19 credit card accounts she opened were to buy food and drugs, there were charges to drug and tire stores, an insurance company and the Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Loo noted.

Asuncion was ordered to pay $1,674 in restitution to the Clementes and $500 to First Hawaiian Bank. Other banks didn’t request restitution, Temas said.

As part of her sentence, Asuncion was ordered not to consume alcohol or illegal drugs and to write a letter apologizing to the Clementes.

“You got all these credit cards. You took all this money,” Loo told Asuncion. “I don’t think you gave a heartfelt apology to the Clementes.”

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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