07/21/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Tara Monks // Tara Monks
Mineola, NY – A Long Island couple realized they had fallen victim to an adoption scam Monday, July 19, 2010, after finding the child they were awaiting was promised to another couple, as reported by WCBSTV. The couple reportedly paid the expecting mother over $7,000 and had already been approved by Nassau County and Maryland courts.
Joseph and Lisa Weiner, of Port Washington, claim they discovered the mother of the baby girl that was told would be theirs had promised the child to a second family as well.
The woman, Jessica Dreves, 33, has a criminal record with charges including petit larceny, counterfeit money and drugs.
The couple is undoubtedly devastated, as Joseph Weiner explained, “We painted her room…we have the car seat ready to go pick up the baby and there was no birth mom.”
Prosecutors are calling Dreves a career criminal. As she promised the baby to two sets of awaiting parents, she received thousands of dollars from both couples for rent, food and medical care. When the time came for Dreves to hand over the baby, she fled to Florida with both baby and money.
Nassau DA Kathleen Rice explained, “This adoption scam is every would-be parent’s worst nightmare. The fact that a mother would scheme to sell her own unborn child when that child is already promised to another couple is incomprehensible.”
The woman’s lawyer claims innocence though, arguing, “The law is a person has the right to change her mind and that’s what happened. She didn’t extort money from anybody.”
Dreves pleaded not guilty to grand larceny charges. She is held on $5,000 bail, while her child is under the custody of her Dreves’ parents in Florida.
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