Case summarized

CLEVELAND

Federal prosecutors have summarized their case against the former Sebring-area judge accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the estate of her deceased client.

Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a trial brief ahead of the March 4 trial date for Diane Vettori-Caraballo and her husband, Ismael Caraballo, in federal court in Cleveland. Both are charged with filing false tax returns in relation to illicit proceeds they received from the estate. Diane Vettori-Caraballo also faces charges of mail fraud, structuring her deposits of the stolen cash in order to avoid federal reporting requirements and making false statements to law enforcement about the money.

“[Vettori-Caraballo] devised a scheme to defraud the Mahoning County Probate Court … and to obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses,” the brief states. “[Both defendants] then conspired to defraud the IRS and also to evade taxes by not reporting the funds received as taxable income.”