‘Yuppie’ Con Artists Plead Guilty in Theft

A pair of con artists dubbed the “Yuppie Panhandlers” pleaded guilty Tuesday in Van Nuys Superior Court to stealing a wallet containing $1,000 from an elderly woman.

Jeffrey Dwayne Allman, 31, pleaded guilty to a charge of grand theft, and Tracy Chris Hartland, 24, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the theft June 26 in which Allman grabbed the wallet belonging to Anne Hitt, 69, of Reseda.

On Monday, the pair was sentenced to jail for a scam in which they posed as a young married couple down on their luck. Authorities said they defrauded more than 300 Good Samaritans out of sums ranging from $10 to $100 over the last three years. The two posed as stranded out-of-towners who needed money for food and auto repairs.

“They seemed like the boy and girl next door,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Rabichow said.

Asked for Money

Hitt was standing outside a Reseda restaurant when Allman approached her, saying his car had been burglarized and asking for $30, according to court records. He said that he and his wife, who he claimed was 3 1/2 months pregnant, needed the money to return home to Northern California.

As Hitt handed over $10, Allman asked for more. As she searched through her purse for more money to give the couple, Allman grabbed her wallet, Rabichow said. Moments later, Hartland drove up to the curb, and Allman ran over and got in the car, Rabichow said.

As part of the plea agreement, Allman faces a maximum sentence of one year in County Jail and Hartland faces a sentence of up to 9 months in jail, Rabichow said.

The prosecutor said Allman faces a stiffer sentence in this case because he was the one who actually took the money.

They are to be sentenced Feb. 24.

Allman and Hartland received jail sentences Monday in Los Angeles Municipal Court after each pleaded no contest to 10 counts of petty theft. They were originally charged with 33 counts of misdemeanor petty theft but pleaded guilty to fewer charges in an arrangement with prosecutors. Allman was sentenced to 15 months in jail and Hartland to 9 months for those offenses.