U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Maryland
Rod J. Rosenstein
United States Attorney
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Vickie E. LeDuc
Public Information Officer
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April 23, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md

MARYLAND WOMAN SENTENCED TO OVER 33 YEARS FOR MURDER AND FRAUD IN DECADES-LONG IDENTITY THEFT SCHEME

Con Artist Murdered Elderly Victim and Dumped Body to Prevent Discovery of Scheme to Fraudulently Obtain Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Using
Victims’ Identities

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davissentenced Nancy Jean Siegel, age 61, of Baltimore, today to400 months in prison, followed by five years of
supervisedrelease, for second degree murder-witness tampering, theftof government benefits, identity theft and fraud offensesin connection with a scheme to use the
identities of victims, including an elderly man she murdered for personalgain, announced United States Attorney for the District ofMaryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
Judge Davis also ordered Siegelto make full restitution to the fraud victims.

“It took thirteen years of hard work by intrepidinvestigators and persistent prosecutors for the trunk thatserved as Jack Watkins’ coffin to make it from a curb in Loudon County, Virginia to a courtroom in Baltimore,Maryland,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “NancySiegel seduced Jack Watkins and stole his money, then shemurdered him, put his naked body in a trunk and dumped itin the trash so that she could continue to collect his Social Security and retirement benefits for seven
years.Today’s sentence of 400 months in prison ensures that NancySiegel’s horrendous life of con games and murder is overfor good.”

According to testimony at the two week trial, Siegelengaged in a decades-long fraud scheme whereby she obtainedthe trust of her victims, obtained their personal
financialinformation often through romantic relationships, and thenused the victims’ personal financial data to access theirexisting credit accounts and obtain new credit
in theirnames for herself without their knowledge. Siegel redirected the financial statements for the victims’ accounts to her own address to avoid detection by
thevictims, and was even able to access bank accounts.

Siegel married her first husband in 1968. Siegel begangambling, and took out credit in her husband’s name withouthis knowledge. When they divorced in 1985, he was
left withover $100,000 in debts related to her fraud. Siegel marriedher second husband in 1985 and again obtained credit usinghis personal information. When they
divorced in 1993, hewas left with over $18,000 in debts related to her fraud.Additionally, Siegel used both of her daughters’ identitiesto open credit
accounts in their names without theirknowledge and directed the statements to addresses shecontrolled.

Trial evidence further showed that by the spring of 1992,Siegel started dating a man who would subsequently becomeher third husband, and by September of 1993,
without hisknowledge, began having his mail forwarded to her ownresidence. The relationship broke off in the fall of 1994.

On November 21, 1994 Siegel met Jasper Frederick Watkins, awidower nearly 30 years older than she, when she sold him amausoleum and burial services. According to witnesstestimony, Siegel and Mr. Watkins became inseparable and both represented their relationship as a romantic one,sometimes describing Siegel as Mr. Watkins’s fianceé.Within months, by December 1994, Siegel began to useMr.Watkins’s existing accounts, making extensive chargesfor a variety of items,
including ladies apparel, jewelryand larger purchases. Siegel changed the mailing addressesof the existing credit accounts to her mailing address andthe accounts
became delinquent. Siegel also obtained creditusing Mr. Watkins’ personal information. By August 1995,Siegel had accumulated substantial personal debt in
Mr.Watkins’s name, including tens of thousands of dollars incredit card debt, and an outstanding car loan of over$40,000 for a BMW.

Siegel induced Mr. Watkins in August 1995 to obtain a$44,000 mortgage on his home and then paid off the balanceson 13 credit cards. She continued to exploit Mr.
Watkins’scredit and by November, convinced Mr. Watkins to take out asecond mortgage and give her $20,000, promising to marryMr. Watkins and use the money
to buy a condo for them tolive in. She never bought the condo and she used the money for her own purposes. In fact, in the spring of 1995, shehad reestablished her
relationship with the man who wouldbecome her third husband.

Siegel sold Mr. Watkins’s home in April 1996. Mr. Watkinswas rapidly running out of assets to liquidate. Siegelbegan taking steps to have Mr. Watkins wrongfully
committedfor psychiatric care, while pawning his personal assets.

Mr. Watkins was murdered within 48 hours of May 13, 1996,when Siegel drove to Virginia and dumped his body near sometrash on an access point to the Appalachian Trail inLoudoun County. The emaciated body was located almostimmediately. The autopsy found fresh cuts and abrasions onthe body, a blunt force trauma to the back of his head andtoxic levels of a sedative in his body. Because there wasno identification with his remains, his body was notidentified until January 2003, using military records.

For seven years after Mr. Watkins’s death and until July2003, Siegel diverted Watkins’s social security andretirement annuity payments to her own use, and
continuedto use his identity and financial information to open newaccounts and use his existing accounts.

Siegel married her third husband in December 1998. Sheaccessed his financial accounts without permission, tookover existing credit accounts and obtained
numerous loansand new credit accounts in his name, all without hisknowledge. In all, Siegel fraudulently used her thirdhusband’s identity to obtain between $200,000
and $300,000in goods and cash, including new credit extensions andmoney taken from existing accounts.

Siegel’s fraudulent activities have resulted in hundreds ofthousands of dollars in losses to between 10 and 50 individual and institutional victims.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the SocialSecurity Administration,Office of Inspector General, theU.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Loudoun CountySheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation for their investigative work. Mr. Rosensteinalso thanked the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,Office of the Inspector General for their commitment ofresources to the case as well. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Tamera L. Fine, ChristineManuelian and Richard C. Kay, who prosecuted the case.