Conman gets comeuppance, 14 months in prison

William Lee Roberts was so good he could walk into a business that caters to contractors, sell a useless black box for $2,000 and call it a security system.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Roberts, according to court records, persuaded retired accountant Sam Cozzetto to buy into a security-business scheme only to use the 87-year-old’s ironclad line of credit to apply for more than a dozen credit cards that Roberts then used to pay for expensive stays at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, pay off bills totaling $9,000 and buy $371 worth of parts for his girlfriend’s car.

“This pattern of abuse went on for months and months allowing Mr. Roberts to live a lifestyle that most of us would envy,” Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Patrick Johnson said. “Essentially, whatever he wanted he bought. And he bought those items with Mr. (Cozzetto’s) credit. The total loss was well over $50,000.”

Roberts, 41, appeared for sentencing Thursday before Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor after Roberts abruptly ended his trial last month while he was on the witness stand. Just before the case went to jury, Roberts pleaded guilty to first-degree identity theft and 13 counts of second-degree possession of stolen property.

“He’s a conman explaining what a good businessman he is,” Johnson said of Roberts’ testimony.

The abrupt guilty plea “was one of those rare ‘Perry Mason’ moments that really never happen,” Johnson said.

O’Connor sentenced Roberts to the maximum 14 months in prison and ordered him to pay back more than $51,000 in restitution.

The justice came too late for Cozzetto, who was suffering from dementia when Roberts befriended him, Johnson said. Cozzetto died in 2004.

His niece, Michele Naccarato, spoke for Cozzetto’s family at Roberts’ sentencing.

“Uncle Sam always prided himself on being a very savvy businessman who would never be taken advantage by anyone,” Naccarato said. “It’s a sad commentary on our society when … you have to watch out for those who are taking advantage of you in what should be your golden years.”

She said she and her family wanted to forgive Roberts. “But by the same token, knowing that he befriended our uncle, he took away his ability to live comfortably the last few months of his life.”

Johnson said Spokane police Detective Bryan Tafoya investigated the case and learned that Cozzetto appointed Roberts his power of attorney. Roberts then devised a scheme by which he would apply for credit cards and have the statements sent to a post office box to which Cozzetto had no access. Roberts kept the credit cards in a safe in his basement.

“The facts uncovered by Detective Tafoya exposed a pattern of fraud, deception and manipulation,” Johnson said. “This is the type of case that excites the imagination and the passion of people who come into contact with the facts. A lot of people have worked to seek justice in this case.”

One of those people was Nancy Apodaca, who was a partner at The Ugly Duck, which sells building materials at 1727 W. Sinto Ave. Apodaca, who was the last witness to testify at Roberts’ trial, said in an interview Thursday that he came into her business shortly after it was hit by an arsonist. Roberts was selling an upgrade to the existing security system.

“He came in and was all smiles, dressed and groomed,” Apodaca said Thursday. “He turned on his charm. He was smooth.”

Roberts sold the business a $4,700 system. But Apodaca said she insisted on paying Roberts only $2,000 until the job was complete.

Roberts later called and said the job was done, but the system would not work, she said. Four times Roberts sent his crew to work on the black box, but it never worked. After Roberts fled Spokane, the business had to pay its old company $200 to reinstall the old system, Apodaca testified.

Once they checked the black box, they learned it apparently was a device used to open gates. The wires weren’t connected to anything. It remains on the wall at The Ugly Duck “to remind us how stupid we were,” Apodaca said.

When Tafoya raided Roberts’ home and office, Roberts was gone. But he spoke to Tafoya on the phone and claimed that he was going to turn himself in. Roberts then fled with his family to Kansas City, Mo., where local police arrested him in September 2005, Tafoya said. Roberts was extradited to Washington a month later.

Roberts did not speak for himself Thursday, but his attorney, Gordon Stoa, spoke for him.

“Mr. Roberts, your honor, is here before you requesting any leniency you may have,” Stoa said. “He’s employable, certainly. He’s an entrepreneur. He can make money. And it is his intent and desire to start making those restitution payments as quickly as possible.”

O’Connor said she wasn’t in any hurry to return Roberts to the community.

“Frankly, my impression, Mr. Roberts, is that you’re an enterprising person. You strike me as a person who thinks they can sell anybody anything” O’Connor said. “You are the quintessential salesperson. And that includes alarm systems that don’t work.”

The judge lamented a change in state law that prevents her from placing Roberts on parole after his time in prison. O’Connor said she would have prevented Roberts from ever working at a job or creating a business “where you have in your hands other people’s money.”

The late Sam Cozzetto “was being taken advantage of just incredibly. And the community can’t tolerate that,” O’Connor said. “His family and he deserved a lot better than that. And you deserve to be held responsible for that.”