Oxnard woman sentenced to jail for identity theft, theft of an elder

VENTURA, Calif. -- An Oxnard woman was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to identity theft and theft from an elder on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Rita Runyon, 66, from Oxnard has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to three counts of identity theft and two counts of theft from an elder.

After completing her jail sentence, Runyon will be placed on mandatory supervision for 30 months.

The District Attorney's Office said she was also ordered to pay $62,000 in restitution and have no contact with the victim.

The crime was investigated by the Oxnard Police Department and the Southern California High Tech Task Force, and prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office Fraud and Technology Crimes Unit. 

According to the investigation, Runyon lived with the elderly victim in her home from 2015 to 2018.

Runyon then ingratiated herself with the victim and began convincing the woman that her family was not taking care of her.

The victim then moved to a senior home and Runyon was said to then gain control of the victim's financial accounts and stole money from her.

Runyon was also said to misuse the victim's credit cards by making personal purchases without the victim's authorization.

Her scheme unraveled when Runyon attempted to gain access to an estate of the victim's close friend in Santa Clara County. When the friend died, Runyon allegedly transferred a large portion of the estate to herself.

Runyon is scheduled to be arraigned on charges that she stole more than $500,000 on August 6 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.