Woman admits swindling thousands from McHenry man

Avoiding the prison sentence her husband could not, a 40-year-old Michigan woman pleaded guilty today to helping her spouse swindle as more than $70,000 from a McHenry County man they met on a Caribbean vacation.

Lisa L. Lemieux, of Hazel Park, Mich., admitted guilt to a charge of aggravated identity theft under a plea deal in which she was sentenced to 24 months of nonreporting probation and ordered to pay $10,000 restitution to the victim, a 64-year-old McHenry man.

She also was sentenced to 84 days in the McHenry County jail, but already has served that time.

Her husband, Thomas P. Lemieux, 47, pleaded guilty to similar allegations last year and was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay as much as $72,000 restitution.

Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Philip Hiscock said Thomas Lemieux received the harsher punishment because he had a criminal background and appeared to be more culpable for the identity theft.

"In my opinion, he was the leader of the two," he said.

McHenry County authorities charged the pair in August 2007, claiming they stole the victim's Social Security number while visiting his home in July 2004, then used it to obtain as many as six credit cards. The Lemieuxs and McHenry man first met in early 2004 while on vacation, police said.

The couple made thousands of dollars in purchases on the cards over the next 30 months, including airline tickets and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, investigators said, keeping the victim in the dark by making minimum payments and shifting debt from one card to another. The victim finally became aware of the purchases in February 2007 when a credit company called about a credit application submitted by the Lemieuxs with his name on it, police said.

Lisa Lemieux's attorney, Senior Assistant Public Defender Christopher Harmon, declined to comment on her guilty plea today.