Two people have been sentenced to prison in Arizona for participating in a “predatory scheme” that involved fraudulent life insurance policies.
Ryan Michell, 46, and Shannon Lovell, 35, were sentenced to jail after pleading guilty in Maricopa County to charges involving a fraudulent life insurance company, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
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According to the AG’s office, Michell founded the bogus “Patriot Life Insurance Company” to target persons battling with substance abuse and homelessness.
Lovell allegedly recruited victims to sign up for a “free” life insurance policy provided by a nonprofit. After completing enrollment forms, Michell would utilize the victim’s personal information to get actual insurance policies from legitimate firms, naming himself and Lovell as beneficiaries.
The defendants allegedly agreed to share the proceeds of the policies. The scheme ran throughout the county from 2017 to 2019.
Michell and Lovell both pleaded guilty to fraud and joining a criminal gang. He was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison and 4 years on probation.
Lovell was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail and three years on probation. “These defendants built a predatory scheme from the ground up, creating a fake insurance company, targeting people struggling with addiction and homelessness, and then positioning themselves to profit from those victims’ deaths,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement.
