By Zach Patberg
Nancy Jace, 39, known as the infamous sweetheart who conned five seniors, including an 86-year-old man in Forest Hills, out of nearly $300,000 last year by selling fake sob stories and promises of romance, was found guilty of stealing more than $86,000 from six borough landlords, the Queens district attorney said.Jace shared the conviction of scheming to defraud and grand larceny charges with her husband, Danny Nicholas, also 39, according to the DA.Authorities say that from August 1997 and June 2005, the couple would move from residence to residence throughout Bayside, Flushing, Fresh Meadows and Maspeth, eventually filing for bankruptcy just before the landlords were set to evict them for owing back rent. The bankruptcy filing would then stay any eviction proceedings for months or years. In all six instances, however, they were ultimately evicted, the DA said.DA Richard Brown said investigators were first turned onto the “cynical scheme” in June 2004 when one of the landlords, David Wang, a U.S. Army Reservist, reported that the couple had not paid him several months worth of rent while he was serving overseas on military duty.Around that time, Jace also pleaded guilty to the sweetheart scam, for which she has since violated probation by failing to pay her victims' restoration.Sentencing for Jace and her husband was set for Feb. 27 in Queens Supreme Court where a judge will decide whether to order them to pay restitution. Jace's probation violation will also be raised, the DA said. The couple face up to seven years in prison.Jace was arrested in 2003 for swindling older men by pretending to be a lonely down-and-out woman when in reality she owned expensive jewelry and a Jaguar. She faced up to 15 years in jail on the defraud charges until a plea deal reduced her punishment to probation, during which she was to pay back the $300,000 she stole. In March, she was found in violation of her probation for falling behind in her payments. A DA spokeswoman said she has not yet resumed her restitutions.State Supreme Court Judge John Latella in Kew Gardens dismissed all forgery charges initially brought against the couple because they were filed in Brooklyn federal court, which is outside Queens DA's jurisdiction. The judge also dropped a grand larceny charge that had expired under the five-year statute of limitations.Reach reporter Zach Patberg at news@timesledger.com or at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
