2 Sentenced in Water Scam
Two San Fernando Valley residents were ordered to serve jail time and pay more than $20,000 in restitution Tuesday for using scare tactics to pressure six Piru families into buying unnecessary water-treatment systems, prosecutors said.
Laura Indiana Ortega, 48, will serve 180 days and Juan Castaneda Abanto, 50, will serve 90 days. The Sherman Oaks pair, who remain free on bail, had worked for Burbank-based Everclear Water Systems.
The Spanish-speaking defendants were convicted of targeting Latino families during door-to-door sales and convincing them that local tap water posed health hazards.
Company owner Elizabeth Vergara was also convicted and is to be sentenced in early January, about the same time that Ortega and Abanto must surrender to authorities.
Similar criminal cases against the company are pending in two other counties.
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