Former Professional Trustee of Sacramento-based Trust Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Loretta Darlene Stewart-Cabrera, also known as Loretta Dexter, 54, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Stewart-Cabrera was a professional fiduciary who served as the trustee of a trust that owned a Sacramento property. After the trust grantor died in December 2012, Stewart-Cabrera executed a scheme to obtain and spend the trust assets. Stewart-Cabrera did this by selling the trust’s property, only distributing to the trust beneficiaries approximately $30,000 of the more than $300,000 she received from the sale of the property, and spending the remaining money without the permission or knowledge of the trust beneficiaries. She used a portion of the trust funds to gamble and dine in Las Vegas casinos, pay family members, and purchase merchandise.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Fogerty is prosecuting the case.

Stewart-Cabrera is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on September 9. Stewart-Cabrera faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and fine of $250,000 for the wire fraud count; for the money laundering count, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering transactions. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.