Well-known attorney, Theresa Erickson, who specialized in reproductive law before pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a baby-selling scheme, has been sentenced to 5 months in prison, 7 months of home confinement, $70,000 in fines and 3 years of supervised release, as reported by Fox 5 San Diego, the Los Angeles Times and several other news sources.
San Diego Federal Judge Anthony Battaglia handed down the sentence for Poway-based Erickson on Friday, February 24.
Prosecutors had successfully argued that Erickson, along with a Las Vegas nurse and another lawyer from Maryland, had successfully sold twelve unborn babies.
Each prospective parent paid the trio a combined $100,000 for each baby.
Nurse Carla Chambers and Attorney Hilary Neiman both received five month prison sentences along with five months of home confinement.
The defendants were said to have arranged for women – that desperately needed money – to travel to Ukraine and become surrogate mothers via embryo implantation. U.S. Attorney Michael Merriman also alleged that once the implantation was successful each was matched up with a couple.
The couples were considered desperate to have children but were unaware that they were doing anything illegal.
Selling babies is illegal, but surrogate pregnancies are not. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, agreements between “gestational carriers” and couples seeking children prior to conception are legal.
However, according to the prosecution, these twelve couples were told that the babies they were buying had been the result of surrogate pregnancy agreements that had been broken.
When, in fact, Erickson had filed fraudulent surrogacy agreements claiming that they were legitimate. Each of the false agreements was filed in the San Diego Superior Court.
Merriman said, “The defendants took advantage of the victims when they were most vulnerable” and that because of the fraud the couples will never know of any genetic medical risks. Additionally, the children will never be able to learn who their biological parents were.
Judge Battaglia said that he was “offended” by a lawyer engaging in this type of fraudulent activity and told Erickson, “You put in motion a parade of tragedy.”
Instead of placing children in homes that needed parents, she arranged for babies to be given life for the sole purpose of making money.
Erickson has since resigned from the California bar and apologized to her victims, her family, friends and others in her profession. Erickson said, “I know I have done horribly wrong. For many years I let my judgment be clouded, by ego or otherwise.”
Chambers also apologized to the court for her actions.
The scheme to sell the babies began in 2005.
A hearing has been ordered by the judge to look at restitution – which could potentially reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Caught up in a criminal scheme and now facing charges? That is why you must contact a criminal defense attorney to best suit your needs. Don’t delay – start working on your defense today!
