No Contest Plea In San Bruno Blast Fraud Case
SAN BRUNO (CBS SF) - One year after the deadly gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, a woman who went to the disaster area and falsely claimed to be a victim pleaded no contest to identity theft and other charges in San Mateo County Superior Court.
Niesha Taylor, 26, of San Francisco, pleaded no contest on Friday to one felony count each of second-degree burglary, identity theft and providing a false or forged document, according to the district attorney's office.
Prosecutors said that Taylor and a second suspect, Deonte Bennett, 26, of Oakland, went to a temporary disaster center five days after the Sept. 9, 2010, explosion in the Crestmoor Canyon neighborhood and applied for benefits, claiming their property had been destroyed in the blast.
The pair went to a DMV assistance table and forged documents to get new identification, signing forms under penalty of perjury that they had lived in the burned neighborhood, prosecutors said.
When DMV workers suspected fraud and notified police, the pair allegedly lied to investigators, saying their property was in a house they rented but could not say who the owner was, according to the district attorney's office.
The two were arrested and booked on various burglary and perjury-related charges.
Bennett, who is out of custody on $50,000 bail, is scheduled to appear in court for the setting of a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
Taylor faces no more than two years in prison when she is sentenced on Nov. 9.
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