Lolita Carrico: My Experience with the Influencer and Grifter
Sometime in the past few years a grifter by the name of Lolita Carrico entered my life. An honest to goodness con-artist with a story that would make the producers over at Dateline slobber. In the past three months, there have been phone calls from a half dozen people owed money, law enforcement, and ex-spouses. In the past week, it has come to my attention that the FBI is sniffing around, that law enforcement and judges are pissed that this person is on the streets.
There was an arrest followed by a few days in jail and then there was a large sum of cash produced which released this person from some of the fraud charges against them. Some people will get some of their money back, though surely not all. While our lovely neighborhood grifter was languishing in the LA County Jail the non-custodial parent worked the phones in an attempt to locate their children. I passed along the phone numbers that I had available to me.
This makes me a villain.
I’m really frustrated and angry. I’m angry with myself for allowing someone into my life that my husband didn’t like. When we met this person he was suspicious of the stories, the houses, and the cars. He stayed away, I ignored a few signs (and a bounced check to my favorite dog trainer ever) and proceeded to let this person into my life.
I would hear stories about the spouse and dutifully retell them to Mr. G. in an attempt to explain why there was only one parent. He would nod and say, “There are two sides to every story.”
Why don’t I listen to my husband?
A housekeeper wasn’t paid for several weeks. She showed up at my door weeping. I loaned her money but distanced myself ever so slightly from the friendship.
There were websites devoted to the frauds this person perpetrated online. This person was able to make them go away. New and similar complaints are popping up.
Two women I know and respect are collectively owed more than ten thousand dollars by Lolita Carrico.
But still, I’m the villain.
I’m sad that a few people will exit my life because of this. It’s clear that at least one person will no longer speak to me or to my husband. I’m not crushed by this because I fully expect that the full story will come out when more victims of the fraud come forward. I also expect that this person isn’t finished with stealing from people, from businesses, and from marriages (yes there appears to be one spouse in his/her crosshairs that’s facilitating real estate scams, lending money and behaving rather flirtatiously).
Only the most sophisticated liar could find a way to convince a community that I was somehow responsible for their children ending up with the other parent. Logic tells us that the nine felonies pending and last year’s arrest for similar criminal activities are what made a judge think the children belonged somewhere else.
I’m not even sure why I feel compelled to blog about this. I’ve held this person’s secrets for a very long time. Bankruptcy, repossessed cars, bounced checks, swindled employees…. maybe my secret keeping is what allows a con like this to be successful? This person was so good in garnering my sympathy that I suspended all good sense for the better part of two years. I turned a blind eye to signs that no one else would have missed.
What infuriates me about this most of all isn’t that I’ll lose friends that I care about. I know I will and that’s a risk I took when I did the right thing for those children. I didn’t remove children from a house. I didn’t track anyone down. I gavenon-custodialial parent (who incidentally was the only parent not in jail and remains the only parent not on probation) a phone number to call. If the children were “taken away” it was by a judge AND by the felonious parent’s actions, not by anyone else’s.
The thing about losing these friends? I think they’re being taken for a ride as I was.
I’m stunned that something so otherworldly has entered my life. I feel like I opened my front door and laid out a welcome mat for evil. The most upsetting part of all is that I feel like I can’t trust my own instincts. That sucks.
UPDATE: Today (May 28, 2013) she was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in state prison. According to someone who was at the courthouse it was a probation violation for forgery. She had continued her old antics of writing checks on closed accounts, renting furniture and never returning it… the usual. There was a line of witnesses but the judge stopped it and sentenced her They say she’ll likely end up serving a year or so in LA County Jail and there are new charges pending. The judge said, “You had a sweetheart jail and you messed up.” My assumption is that this refers to the two convictions for 476A(A) of the California Penal Code that she was convicted of on September 30, 2011 and not the four counts of the same that were either dismissed or not prosecuted on Februray 7, 2012.
People are commenting on this story and feeling badly for the kids. I am relieved for the kids. They’ve been moving in and out of houses every few weeks for years now. They’ve been driving in stolen cars and living with a mother who is paranoid that the world is out to get her. I think a year (oh how I wish it actually would be 2 years and 8 months) without their mother’s criminal influence will be good for them. And I say that as someone who had come to love those children.
SECOND UPDATE: I never tried to kill her dog. That I even have to write that sentence is ludicrous.
MORE UPDATES:
2015 Criminal Conviction court documents: Criminal Case Summary Lolita Carrico 2015
2011 Criminal Conviction court documents: Criminal Case Summary 2011 Lolita Carrico
Didn’t show up to court when Unlimited Reprographics tried to collect their debt.
Kenny Tan represented Lolita Carrico when Brian Kim was evicting her in 2008 and 2009. In May of 2009 a bench warrant was ordered and bail set at $7,689 after she failed to appear in court when Kenny Tan then sued her.
Still not paying rent launching new websites – be careful with ShesSporty.com
Civil Court cases in Los Angeles only:
2/25/02 Stanley Mosk Courthouse case number 02M04741
Buckingham Nannies v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $1,890 plus fees.
06/16/2004 Stanley Mosk Courthouse case number 04M09774
Food Fedish v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $1,022.32 plus fees.
09/29/2005 Inglewood Courthouse case number 05W02092
Midway Rent a Car v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $922.80 plus fees.
Running Total: $2,791.48
10/14/2005 Stanley Mosk Courthouse Case Number: 05M16836
BILL ROBERTSON & SONS VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico in the amount of $179.73 plus fees.
12/19/2005 Stanley Mosk Courthouse case number 05U14805
Park La Brea v Lolita Carrico – Unlawful Detainer – dismissed without prejudice
01/18/2006 Stanley Mosk Courthouse Case Number: 06M00167
CONTINENTAL CURRENCY SERVICES, VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico in the amount of $2,500
01/19/2006 Stanley Mosk Courthouse Case Number: 06M00727
CONTINENTAL CURRENCY SERVICES VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico in the amount of $1,669.78 plus costs.
01/24/2006 Inglewood Courthouse Case Number: 06SX0130
ZIVICH, ELAINE VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico in the amount of $5,000.00 plus costs.
Running Total: $12,140.99
01/26/2006 Stanley Mosk Courthouse case number 06K00896
LA Commercial Group Inc v Modern Mom, Lolita Carrico. Bench warrant issued 4/20/2007 Judgment satisfied 3/2/2009
01/31/2007 Inglewood Courthouse case number 07C00254
The Reagan Group v Modern Mom, Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $22,646.92 plus interest.
08/31/2007 Stanley Mosk Courthouse case number 07M11515
Robert Michaelis v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $7,483.75 plus fees.
10/16/2007 Stanley Mosk Courthouse Case Number: BC379151
WACHOVIA BANK NA VS MODERN MOM INC ET AL. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico in the amount of $35,783.85.
Running Total: $78,055.51
12/03/2007 Stanley Mosk Courthouse Case Number: BS112247
BROOKS PIERCE MCLENDON HUMPHREY & LEONARD LLP VS LOLITA CARRICO. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of $30,606.00
06/09/2008 Burbank Courthouse Case Number: EC042725
BRIAN KIM VS. LOLITA CARRICO evictionSara Hutter v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of $1,822.00 plus fees.
10/10/2008 Van Nuys Courthouse West Case Number: 08E13260
BROOK FURNITURE RENTAL INC. VS MODERN MOM INC. Judgment entered for plaintiff, no dollar amount shown.
10/31/2008 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 08V08664
HUTTER, SARA VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs, amount unknown
12/10/2008 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 08V11083
Timothy Gordon DBA A Better Way to Move v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of $2909.15 plus fees.
02/04/2009 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 09V00735
Garcia Home Services v Lolita Carrico. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of$175.00 plus costs.
04/10/2009 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 09B02210
BG Hortense LLC v Lolita Carrico. Bench warrant issued 05/21/2010
10/02/2009 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 09V06786
GO JUNK FREE AMERICA!, INC. VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $1,785.00 plus costs.
Running Total: $115,352.66 plus fees and interest
02/26/2010 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 10V01530
HORIZON FOODS VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered for Horizon in the amount of $1,555.00 plus costs.
09/01/2010 Alhambra Courthouse Case Number: 10SG1797
SMGM CORP VS CARRICO, LOLITA J. Judgment entered for SMGM in the amount of $2,501.07
10/22/2010 Beverly Hills Courthouse case number 10C04510
ROSENBERG & KOFFMAN, VS CARRICO,LOLITA. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of $7,478.33 plus fees and costs.
11/19/2010 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 10V07678
TOWN & COUNTRY EVENT RENTALS INC. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of$2,409.08 plus costs.
12/01/2010 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 10V07794
INVISIBLE FENCE WEST COAST VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $1,514.00 plus costs.
12/28/2010 Van Nuys Courthouse East Case Number: 10V08116
YOUNGBLOOD, ADRIAN VS CARRICO, LOLITA J. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of $835.00
02/03/2011 Van Nuys Courthouse East Case Number: 11V00725
GRAYR, VICTOR VS CARRICO, LOLITA J. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico in the amount of $1,381.64
5/4/2011 Van Nuys Courthouse East case number 11V02732
24 MOVING VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $2,877.25 plus costs.
12/18/2013 Van Nuys Courthouse West case number 13V10028
FOUR PAWS DAY CARE INC. VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered for the plaintiffs in the amount of $1,103.75 plus costs.
02/03/2015 Santa Monica Courthouse Case Number: 15R00660
SCOTT PROPERTIES GROUP, INC. VS CARRICO, LOLITA. Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $16,342.00 plus the return of property
09/09/2015 Santa Monica Courthouse Case Number: 15R04715
KLEIN, ALLYSON VS CARRICO, LOLITA Judgment entered against Lolita Carrico for $12,850.00 plus the return of property
As of 2015, Lolita Carrico had judgments against her in the amount of at least $166,199.78 plus fees in Los Angeles plus multiple evictions.
June 2019: Stephen Grenne v Lolita Carrico https://unicourt.com/case/ca-la2-stephen-a-grenne-et-al-vs-lolita-carrico-1036316
October 2018: Someone else lost money to her David Hughes v Lolita Carrico https://unicourt.com/case/ca-la23-david-w-hughes-vs-lolita-carrico-303680
May 2019: Lolita Carrico is being sued again https://unicourt.com/case/ca-la1-reylex-inc-vs-lolita-carrico-1665640