Boulder Man Offered Chance To "Buy Down" Sentence After Copping Plea To Bilking 79-Year Old Employee Out Of $400K+; Victim Left w/ $195K Loan On Home

In Boulder, Colorado, the Boulder Daily Camera reports:

• The former president of Boulder-based used-car business CarFind USA could spend up to nine years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to convincing a 79-year-old employee to loan him more than $300,000 for car payments, vacations and real estate purchases. Larry J. Abrams, 47, of Superior, was scheduled to go to trial next week on felony charges of theft of an at-risk adult, but he instead pleaded guilty in Boulder County District Court to felony theft and criminal attempt to commit theft.

• He's scheduled to be sentenced April 30 to anywhere from probation to nine years in prison, and he must pay back as much as $403,700 to Dorothy Mannes. "We want to encourage Mr. Abrams to pay back as much as possible before the sentencing," Deputy District Attorney Michael Foote told the judge Wednesday. "Our sentencing recommendation will depend on how much he pays back."

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• Foote said prosecutors allowed Abrams to take a deal because it could help Mannes, who is on a fixed income, get more of her money back more quickly. "She is in a desperate situation -- she needs money, and she needs it as quickly as possible," Foote said.

• Mannes reported Abrams to the Consumer Division of the Boulder County District Attorney's Office on Sept. 3 for not paying back numerous loans, including one for $195,804 in July 2005. In that case, Abrams asked Mannes to place a new mortgage on her home and sign the proceeds over to him, according to the [arrest warrant] affidavit.

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• On June 29, 2006, Abrams bought a home [...] in unincorporated Boulder County for $235,000. He then sold that property to Mannes a week later for $325,000 and had her sign a deed to turn the property back over to Abrams. "No appreciable improvements are believed to have been made to justify the higher price," according to the affidavit. [...] Mannes, who worked for Abrams at CarFind USA, has been drawing from her retirement to stave off foreclosure on the home she lives in, the affidavit said.

For the story, see Boulder businessman could go to prison for bilking elderly employee (Larry Abrams must pay back more than $400,000).