From Denny Walsh:
Two Roseville men accused of colluding in the theft of nearly $200,000 in life insurance proceeds meant for a dead Marine's grieving mother were have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento.
After Joyce Guzman was notified in November of the death of her son, Lance Cpl. Kyle Guzman, in a U. S. Marine Corps training accident, Raymond Brogan and his uncle, Robert Brogan, convinced her to give them control of the money so they could "pay (her) bills and make investments for her benefit," the indictment alleges.
Instead, it alleges, they converted the funds to their own benefit "by fraudulently inducing (her) to sign some checks and forging her signature on other checks."
Raymond Brogan, 41, who is being held without bail, pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Robert Brogan. 61, was arraigned Friday and pleaded not guilty. After a brief hearing, U. S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan ordered him held without bail as a flight risk and a danger to the community..
The indictment charges them wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy, and conducting a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.
In an FBI agent's affidavit supporting a criminal complaint filed Aug. 25, Raymond Brogan is alleged to have gained access to Joyce Guzman through his girlfriend, Carol Ann Damico, who is Guzman's half-sister.
Damico, 33, and Raymond Brogan were charged in the complaint and affidavit with stealing $195,350 in insurance benefits 21-year-old Iraq war veteran Kyle Guzman left his mother. The affidavit noted the couple had been living in Roseville with Robert Brogan, but he was not charged in the complaint.
Damico was absent from the indictment, which may mean she is negotiating a deal with prosecutors. A Dec. 1 preliminary hearing has been scheduled for her. She is free on bail.
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