CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) — An Iowa woman has pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft for stealing more than $191,000 from her now-dead fiancee and his elderly mother.
Robin Ann Bertelli, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested last month on a 35-count indictment and pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday. Prosecutors say the 60-year-old Bertelli stole checks that belonged to her fiancee — former Navy SEAL Ken Martin Jr. — and Martin’s mother and wrote them payable to herself, forging their signatures.
Prosecutors say Bertelli started a relationship with Martin around 2013 and moved in with him and his mother. Martin died in 2016 while on vacation with Bertelli in Puerto Rico from what Bertelli said was an accidental drowning after hitting his head on a rock.
She faces up to 32 years in prison when she’s sentenced at a later date.