MAN WHO STOLE ELDERLY WOMAN’S HOME SENTENCED TO UP TO FIFTEEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT AFTER FAILING TO MAKE RESTITUTION

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that Ronald Massagli was sentenced to a maximum term of five to fifteen years imprisonment for violating the terms of probation that he received for stealing an elderly woman’s home.

Massagli, 31, of 3109 Roberts Avenue, the Bronx, pled guilty to one count of Grand larceny in the 2nd degree on February 14, 2003. Massagli admitted that he had forged the 82 year old victim’s signature on the deed to her house and then profited by selling the property, after discarding all of the elderly woman’s earthly possessions. The Bronx District Attorney’s Office recommended that Massagli be sentenced to a term of two to six years imprisonment. State Supreme Court Justice Dominick Massaro, however, over the People’s strong objections, sentenced Massagli to six months in jail, four and a half years probation and payment of $50,000 restitution to cover the loss of the victim’s personal property. Massagli still owes nearly $35,000. The house itself was returned to the victim since it was never legally the defendant’s property to sell.

Massagli, after failing to make full restitution, and failing repeatedly to report to the Department of Probation, was sentenced today to serve five to fifteen years imprisonment, the maximum term allowed by law for a Class C felony offense.

The scam was hatched during the Summer of 2001 when the defendant was working as a handyman for one of the victim’s neighbor’s. Massagli asked about the victim’s property which appeared to be abandoned and was told that the owner, Anna Pead, was in a nursing home. Massagli visited the victim at the nursing home in July 2001 and asked if she would be interested in selling the house, which was valued at nearly $250,000. Pead told the defendant no and reported the incident to her social worker, however it was not until nearly a year later, in the Spring of 2002, that the theft came to light. Pead received a bill from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and noticed that she was no longer listed as the owner of the house. Pead got in touch with her lawyer who contacted the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

The theft of the property was uncovered during a follow up investigation by the NYPD Detectives assigned to the Bronx District Attorney’s Squad. It was discovered that Massagli had forged the victim’s signature on the deed. The house was later sold for $50,000 and remodeled. The interior was gutted and the woman’s possessions, including furniture, clothes, photographs and memorabilia, were thrown away.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Earamichia Brown and Daniel Wandermn.