A Tacoma couple who filed a falsified insurance claim, including a forged receipt for a 57-inch TV allegedly purchased from a stranger for $5,800 in cash, have been sentenced.
They also claimed that burglars had stolen a $3,000 Persian rug they'd purchased from their next-door neighbor. When investigators from the state insurance commissioner's Special Investigations Unit questioned the neighbor, he said he'd never sold them a Persian rug, and that the couple was looking for someone to pretend to be the seller so they could collect money from their insurance company.
The couple, Melissa and Anthony Mezias, brought $8,800 in restitution to their sentencing hearing in Pierce County Superior Court on Monday.
In addition to full restitution, Anthony Mezias will have to pay more than $1,000 in court fees and costs on one charge of first-degree theft. Melissa Mezias will pay $700 in fees and costs on one count of attempted false claims in an insurance case.