Lang
9/4/25
A New York man involved in a phone scam that targeted elderly Iowa City residents has been given a 60-day jail sentence.
Court records show 28-year-old Elvi Delacruz Morel of The Bronx reached a deal with prosecutors last month. A 1st Degree Theft charge was pleaded down to 4th Degree Theft, and a Conspiracy to Commit a Forced Felony charge was dropped.
Arrest records indicate in June of 2023 someone called a 79-year-old and an 80-year old and told them he was their son, and that he was in need of bond money after being arrested after a car accident. A second person claiming to be a defense attorney then got on the phone and told the couple to put $26,000 in a shoebox and give it to a driver who would be pulling up to their home shortly. An Uber driver arrived and couriered the money to a gas station in Grinnell, where video footage allegedly shows Delacruz Morel and John Tatis Mendez of Paterson, New Jersey waiting. The exchange was made, and Delacruz Morel and Tatis Mendez left.
Tatis Mendez pleaded guilty to 2nd Degree Theft last October as well as a charge of Conspiracy to Commit a Non-Forcible Felony. He was sentenced to a pair of five-year consecutive suspended sentences.