Former San Diego congressional candidate Delecia Holt sentenced for grand theft -

Former San Diego congressional candidate Delecia Holt sentenced for grand theft - Illness made me do it

Posted by CotoBlogzz 1-21-2010  11:00 AM

SANTA ANA, CA - Delecia Hol was sentenced today to pay over $40,700 in restitution for defrauding Orange County hotels and stealing a Mercedes Benz from a local car dealership. Holt, 48, Aliso Viejo, was found guilty by a jury Dec. 22, 2009, of seven felony counts of writing non-sufficient fund checks, one felony count each of grand theft and defrauding an innkeeper by non-payment. In addition to paying over $40,700 in restitution, Holt has been placed on five years of formal probation and was sentenced to 708 days in jail. She will be released today.

In July 2005, Holt went to a Mercedes Benz dealership in Orange County and wrote a bad check for just under $13,000 as a down payment for a $32,000 car. She left the dealer lot in the car and never made any legitimate payments for the vehicle. Holt's account, from which the $13,000 down payment check was written, had insufficient funds and the dealership never received any monthly payments.

Between July 2007 and September 2007, Holt defrauded the Comfort Suites in Lake Forest out of $5,000. She lived at the Comfort Suites and wrote two separate checks with insufficient funds over the course of three months. She then fled the hotel after failing to make any legitimate payments for her bill.

In October 2007, Holt hosted a comedy night fundraiser at a Dana Point hotel under the pretense of raising money for Habitat for Humanity. The failed event did not raise any money. Holt wrote a check for $15,000 to the hotel from a personal account to cover the cost of the event. She wrote another check to the four comedians totaling $2,000. She intentionally wrote the checks knowing her account had insufficient funds. The checks were declined when the victims attempted to deposit them.

In 2005, Holt ran as a write-in candidate for the 47th Congressional District in Orange County. In 2006, Holt was a candidate for the 53rd Congressional District in San Diego.

During the trial, Holt testified that she was unable to cover her checks due to costs associated with deaths and illnesses in her family, despite having never mentioned any hardship to investigators when initially interviewed about this case. The Orange County District Attroney presented evidence that Holt bounced 90 checks in an 18-month period from one bank account. From a separate account, Holt bounced all 18 checks she wrote and never wrote one legitimate check from the account.

Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche of the Major Fraud Unit prosecuted this case