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| Inmate accused of $70,000 scam |
| By Denver Post |
| Published: 03/22/2004 |
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Prison bars couldn't stop a career crook from going after the life savings of a 95-year-old woman living in a Colorado Springs, Colo., nursing home, authorities say. Using bogus liens, or court claims demanding payment, which were written on a Bent County Correctional Facility computer keyboard, Patrick Hawkinson won two default judgments totaling $70,000 against Opal Wilson, who has since passed away, said Jim Montoya, assistant inspector general. The liens, which were filed in early 2003, have prevented Wilson's beneficiaries from settling her estate. Hawkinson, who was transferred this month to the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, faces felony fraud charges for allegedly filing two false liens, Montoya said. Wilson's beneficiaries are fighting in court to have the liens thrown out. Hawkinson has recently hired an attorney in an attempt to collect on the liens. His attorney, Kent Gray of Colorado Springs, declined to comment about the criminal investigation. Although El Paso County judges awarded Hawkinson two judgments, he never received a dime from Wilson's estate, Montoya said. Before he could, Wilson's nephew, R. Lynn Keener of Las Vegas, discovered the liens after Wilson died in October when he sought to settle her estate. He then notified Montoya, according to Colorado Department of Corrections records. Hawkinson gave prison officials a curious response when asked how he performed work for Wilson in Colorado Springs while he was at the Columbine Correctional Facility, a Denver halfway house: "Yeah, I was out of the area, but its all legit," Hawkinson said in court documents. "The courts, the judge, the clerk of the court all say its legit. There's nothing wrong with this." Among Hawkinson's prison possessions, investigators found meticulous notes on how he performed the fraud and a law textbook that Montoya believes Hawkinson used as a guide to type up the liens. Hawkinson was able to win the allegedly fraudulent liens by falsely claiming in court documents that he served Wilson with the documents, according to a DOC report. When defendants in liens fail to respond, a judge can issue a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff, Montoya said. Hawkinson claimed he spent a month in February and March 2002 remodeling the woman's Colorado Springs home for $17,500. The lien does not specify what work he did. And while Hawkinson said he was fixing Wilson's home, he was actually living in the Denver halfway house. And he reported to work every day at a Lakewood hotel. |
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