After being postponed one day, sentencing was to be held Tuesday for a San Diego fugitive who tweeted “Catch me if you can” when she skipped bail early last year.
Last January, 61-year-old Wanda Podgurski was supposed to be in court to hear the jury’s decision on her 29 felony convictions relating to insurance fraud. However, Podgurski, who was free on bail during the trial, never showed.
A search was launched for Podgurski and six months later U.S. Marshals caught up with her in Mexico. During her time on the run, Podgurski sent off the now infamous tweet.
According to prosecutors, Podgurski faked a disability in 2006 and scammed six insurance companies out of nearly $700,000.
After a two-month trial, jurors determined Podgurski faked bad-health and injuries, and used other tricks to defraud insurance companies for over a decade.
While she was allegedly disabled, prosecutors say Podgurski took several active vacations, including a 16-day tour of China and road trips to Key West, Eureka, CA and the Berkshires.
Prosecutors said Podgurski now faces as much as two years and eight months more in jail time tacked onto the 20 years, four months she was facing for the insurance fraud case.
