MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: A woman has been awarded years behind bars for scamming an elderly Holocaust survivor by extorting $2.8 million from him. Peaches Stergo was reportedly deemed “unspeakably cruel” by US District Judge Edgardo Ramos during her sentencing on Thursday, July 27.

However, the 36-year-old asserted, “I'm sorry,” as per The Independent. Stergo was jailed after she pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in April of this year. At the time, US Attorney Damian Williams said, “Peaches Stergo stole the life savings from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was just looking for companionship. This conduct is sick – and sad.” For the unversed, Stergo met the unidentified victim somewhere between 2016 and 2017 on a dating site. From 2017 to 2021, she reportedly took 62 checks from him, going to the extent of using fake letters, a fake email account, and even invoices to show that they were from TD Bank

How many years will Peaches Stergo spend in prison?

The mother-of-two from Champions Gate, Florida, was reportedly given 51 months of prison time along with three years of supervised release. She has also been asked to “pay restitution in the amount of $2,830,775 and forfeit the same amount,” a press release from the US Attorney's Office - Southern District of New York stated.

After her sentencing, Williams issued a statement, noting, “Peaches Stergo callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was simply looking for companionship. But she did not get away with it. As today’s sentence demonstrates, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes.” Williams added, “Using the millions in fraud proceeds, Stergo lived a life of luxury, purchasing a home in a gated community and a Corvette, taking vacations at hotels like the Ritz Carlton, and buying thousands in designer clothing, while at the same time causing her elderly victim to lose his apartment. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI and this Office, Stergo is being held accountable for her fraud."

‘Never did I imagine that I would be subjected to such a heartless betrayal’

This comes as reports have said that the unidentified victim shared a letter with the judge expressing his shock over the fraud. He noted, “As a Holocaust survivor, I have endured unspeakable pain and loss in my life, but never did I imagine that I would be subjected to such a heartless betrayal in my old age.”

But Stergo's lawyer, Ann Marie Fitz, tried to paint a completely different picture of her as she reportedly mentioned in a sentencing submission, “She is not the cold-hearted person the government and media have made her out to be. There was a genuine, caring relationship that Ms. Stergo had with the victim in this case — she spent holidays with him, she took care of him when he was ill and, as the victim’s cousin described, she was ‘doting’ on him.”