LOS ANGELES
A San Fernando Valley woman has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining ownership of real estate and money via identity theft and forged power-of-attorney forms in a near-$3.9 million scheme
The scheme also included dismembering and disposing of a dead body to prevent the discovery of this victim’s death, the Justice Department announced today.
Caroline Joanne Herrling, 44, a.k.a. “Carrie Phenix,” of West Hills, was sentenced late Friday.
U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong. Judge Frimpong also ordered Herrling to pay $3.8 million in restitution.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Frimpong said this victim was “a man and a human being,” but Herrling “did not see that” and instead treated him “like a cash register.”
“This defendant’s misconduct was both greedy and grotesque, causing profound pain to the victims and their loved ones,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “There must be serious consequences for those who prey on vulnerable communities, such as older adults, and my office will remain steadfast in bringing these offenders to justice.”
“The LAPD would like to thank our federal partners at the US Postal Inspection Service and the United States Attorney’s Office, without whom a resolution in this case would not have been possible,” said Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton.
Court papers reveal that Herrling and her group targeted people in need by looking for neglected houses in wealthy areas.
They used online maps and visited upscale neighborhoods to find homes with signs of neglect, such as dirty pools or untrimmed bushes.
In 2020, they broke into a house in Sherman Oaks where an elderly person lived alone. The resident passed away in September 2020 under unclear circumstances.
Instead of reporting the death, Herrling and her partners took over the house as the body lay inside. They stole the homeowner’s property and money, using a fake legal document to act as if they had the right to do so.
In October 2021, law enforcement began investigating the case when neighbors reported the victim missing.
According to court documents, Herrling identified herself to police as a close friend of the victim and his family.
She also was listed as the trustee of the victim’s family trust – which purportedly had been created by the victim’s mother, who died in June 2017 – but was a forgery. She told police that the victim had moved from Sherman Oaks to Carpinteria, which was not true because the victim was already dead, according to the evidence.
After Herrling learned of the police investigation into the missing victim, her co-conspirators and she executed an elaborate scheme to ensure his body was never found and his death remained unreported; this supports the idea that the victim agreed to distribute his assets to Herrling and her co-conspirators.
Herrling and her co-conspirators moved the victim’s body to her apartment in West Los Angeles, where they attempted to dissolve his body in a concoction of chemicals, investigators found.
When that did not work, Herrling and her co-conspirators dismembered the body, placed the pieces in vacuum-sealed bags, and moved the victim’s body to the Bay Area.
Another member of the conspiracy who owned a sailboat assisted in disposing of the mutilated remains of the deceased victim into San Francisco Bay, the investigation revealed. The victim’s remains have never been found.
The deceased victim was the listed executor and beneficiary of another victim’s will, but court papers state that this document was another forgery that Herrling claimed to have “discovered” in a safe deposit box rented by the deceased victim’s mother. Based on this forged will, the missing victim was to inherit an estate worth more than $1.7 million—assets that ultimately fell under Herrling’s control as the trustee for his estate.
Herrling and her co-conspirators also defrauded a third victim and sold his home without his consent by using a conspirator with fake identity documents to pose as the victim. Herrling set up accounts to receive the proceeds of the sale of this victim’s real estate, which generated approximately $1.5 million. According to court documents, this victim, who was already suffering from mental health issues, took his own life after losing his home. Herrling later used her ill-gotten gains to purchase a residence in West Hills.
The total loss in this case was $3.8 million.
Herrling pleaded guilty in March 2023 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She has been in federal custody since January 2023.
One of Herrling’s accomplices – Matthew Jason Kroth, 50, of Tarzana – pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud and up to 40 years for methamphetamine trafficking. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 7.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Los Angeles Police Department, Valley Bureau Homicide are investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.