BRONX WOMAN AND TWO OTHERS ARE CHARGED IN COMPLEX SCHEME THAT COST THE VERIZON TELEPHONE COMPANY MORE THAN $100,000 IN UNPAID COLLECT CALLS BY STATE PRISON INMATES PHONING HOME

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today the indictment of a 49 year old Bronx woman and two incarcerated co-defendants in connection with an alleged scheme to fraudulently secure free telephone service for inmates in the New York State prison system.

Mr. Johnson said that a grand jury has returned a 282 count indictment charging Paulette Dildy, aka Sugar, of 3353 Fort Independence Avenue, with 137 counts of Theft of Services, 137 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the 1st degree, 4 counts of Attempted Theft of Services and 4 counts of Attempted Falsifying Business Records in the 1st degree. Also named in the indictment and charged in dozens of counts with ‘acting in concert’ with Paulette Dildy are her husband, Victor Dildy, 40, aka Justice, and Leonard Goodman, 49, aka Ali. Dildy and Goodman are currently state prison inmates.

The defendants are facing a maximum term of up to 4 years imprisonment on each felony count if convicted. Falsifying Business Records in the 1st degree is a Class E felony offense. All of the other charges are misdemeanor offenses.

This indictment is the result of a lengthy joint investigation by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Department of Correctional Services / Inspector General’s Office, and Verizon’s Telecommunications Fraud Division.

It is alleged that the defendants devised a scheme which enabled them to exploit a New York State Department of Correction protocol for inmates making telephone calls from prison to family members and legal counsel. For security reasons, inmates are only allowed to make collect calls.

Investigators discovered that in exchange for a $150 fee, Paulette Dildy allegedly would establish telephone service in the homes of inmates’ families using false business names or stolen or fictitious identity information. Inmates could then place lengthy collect calls to these accounts and run up huge bills. Mrs. Dildy allegedly instructed the inmates’ families not to pay the bills, but instead to write ‘addressee unknown’ on the envelope and send the bills back to Verizon. After six to eight weeks, the charges on these accounts could reach into the thousands of dollars. Verizon would disconnect the service for ‘non-payment’. However, for an additional $150, Mrs. Dildy would re-establish telephone service at the same location, using different false identity information.

The investigation revealed that numerous families bought a series of fraudulently obtained phone lines from Mrs. Dildy over a period of months, and even years in some cases. Verizon Telecommunications Fraud Investigators estimated that the losses from this scheme were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Paulette Dildy was arraigned on the indictment before State Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett who set bail in the amount of $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash. Co-defendants Victor Dildy and Leonard Goodman remain imprisoned on unrelated charges. Dildy is serving 6 years to life on a 1995 robbery conviction in Queens, and Goodman is serving 15 years to life on a 1991 murder conviction in Brooklyn.

Mr. Johnson said the investigation into the massive fraud is continuing and that efforts are being made to identify the numerous state prison inmates and their relatives who repeatedly obtained and used the fraudulent telephone accounts.

District Attorney Johnson thanked the following for the hard work and cooperation that led to this indictment: William Smith, Verizon Telecommunications Investigator; Senior Investigator Thomas Walsh and Investigators Ada Feliciano, and Chris Martuscello, New York State Department of Correctional Services / Inspector General’s Office; Frank Viggiano, Deputy Chief, Bronx District Attorney Detective Investigators, and BXDA Detective Investigators Lt. Rocco Galasso, William Qualls and Peter Moro.

Assistant District Attorney James Goward of the Rackets Bureau is prosecuting the case.