The victim resided in Torrance when she met Somoza, but she later lost her house and was residing in a Buena Park homeless shelter when she made the payments detailed in the indictment. The indictment alleges that Somoza did not represent the victim in front of the IRS and instead converted all of these payments to his own use. An IRS revenue agent checked the victim s tax status and determined that there was no IRS activity on her account and that no one was authorized to represent her. If he is convicted of all 10 counts in the indictment, Somoza faces a maximum possible penalty of 50 years in federal prison. An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime.
Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
01-083 Return to the 2001 Press Release Index.