Man gets jail for online scam in name of slain officer’s daughter

A 25-year-old former security guard was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail after pleading guilty to creating a phony website to trick people into thinking they were donating money for the young daughter of a slain Escondido police officer.

Sami Ahmed Saeed pleaded guilty in San Diego County Superior Court to identity theft, receiving stolen property and other related charges.

Saeed did not know Officer Laura Perez and there is no indication that any money would have gone to her 4-year-old daughter, prosecutors said.

No money was raised by the website before Saeed was arrested at his home in Escondido and the site was taken down, police said.

According to a court document, the website read, “The men and women of the Escondido police family and all city of Escondido employees are shocked by the tragic loss of one of our own. We ask for time to grieve and take care of Laura’s family.”

Saeed is also suspected of setting up a phony fundraising site for a young cancer victim, police said.

When he was arrested, Saeed was already facing a charge of stealing cellphones from shoppers. He had been fired as a security guard at a mall in Escondido, prosecutors said.

Perez, 25, a rookie officer, was found dead July 24. Her husband, Freddy Perez-Rodas, 27, was arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting Perez and then setting fire to their home in Murrieta.

Saeed, an Iraqi immigrant, worked as a translator for the U.S. military in Iraq.

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