She stole money from your PayPal account.
That's correct, Your Honor.
What did you do with his money?
She was gonna empty your bank account.
No.
And her claim, that it was her ex-boyfriend who did it,
is a bunch of BS.
I think you are so full of it.
The--oh, the tears, the patting your cheeks.
Welcome to reality.
[announcer] Now, on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Murrieta, California.
Your Honor, this is case number 2091,
Betancourt versus Abril.
- Thank you, Cassandra. - You're welcome.
You may be seated.
[Judge Levy] Mr. Betancourt, you're suing Ms. Abril,
- who was your former friend? - Yes.
You're suing her 'cause you say that she stole money
from your PayPal account to the tune of $7,115.
And she also, according to your complaint,
stole assorted electronic devices from your apartment
valued at approximately $3,400,
and she did this while you were in jail on a drug charge.
- Is that correct? - That's correct, Your Honor.
And, Ms. Abril, I've read your answer,
and in short, you said you didn't steal any of the money,
you didn't steal any of the property,
and instead it was an abusive ex-boyfriend of yours
who stole your phone
and once he gained access to your phone,
it was your ex-boyfriend who stole the money
and then somehow also stole the property.
- Is that right? - Correct.
So, Mr. Betancourt, describe the relationship that you had
with the defendant in or around August of 2023,
'cause that's when you were incarcerated, correct?
Yes. That's correct.
We knew each other for roughly eight months, just under a year.
We would see each other three to five times a week.
Our kids got along really well. We have kids the same age.
- I mean, we... - Was it a romantic relationship?
- It was romantic, yes. - [Judge Levy] Okay. And, Ms. Abril,
just so I'm clear, according to your answer,
you described your relationship with the plaintiff as really close friends
and you considered him "like a brother"?
Hmm, in a sense.
[Judge Levy] Well, that's--in a sense? That's what you wrote.
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] Okay.
So how was it then, Mr. Betancourt,
that Ms. Abril here had access to your PayPal account,
passwords, login, and things of that nature?
I had previously offered this information,
roughly August 20th...
- [Judge Levy] August 20th of 2023? - ... of '23, yes.
Why did you do that?
I offered it to her in emergency situation.
I had been approached by a friend of mine
asking me for some assistance with helping him move his vehicle from TJ.
- [Judge Levy] From TJ? - Tijuana.
- [Judge Levy] From Mexico? - Yeah. That's correct.
- Back to this country? - [Samuel] Yes. That's correct.
I've never been to Mexico. I was afraid to go to Mexico.
I shared this with her.
I said, "Listen, I'm gonna go help him move this car.
He's gonna pay me this amount of money."
And I was--at the time, I was in a financial hardship.
So I said, "Worst-case scenario, I'm gonna give this information.
And if something happens while I'm gone,
can you just take care of these things?" I didn't have a passport.
I don't know the rules of going in and out of Mexico.
I've never--I had never been.
It was instilled in me young in my military,
'cause I was in the military, just stay out of Mexico
'cause there's nothing but trouble in Mexico.
So this one time I got the guts to do it,
I shared with Cassandra my concern about it
and I gave her my information just in an emergency situation.
[Judge Levy] So what was it that you gave to her?
[Samuel] I gave her my password to my email,
the password to my PayPal account.
I gave her full access to my financial, to my VA direct deposit account.
What kind of money do you get from the VA?
[Samuel] I'm a hundred percent service-connected
due to injuries that I retained in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And those monies are deposited...
And they were, at that time, deposited into my PayPal account.
So that was my direct deposit account that I would use for my everyday banking.
[Judge Levy] So far, everything that he says is true, ma'am?
Yes.
In addition to providing her with that password
and account information, did you also provide her
with information about your landlord and how to contact your landlord?
- [Samuel] I did that. - Why?
Just the worst-case scenario. I said, "Hey, listen, if I..."
[Judge Levy] Worst-case scenario what?
You didn't think there was anything illegal about what you were going to do,
- did you? - In the back of my mind,
- I had a--I had a... - [Judge Levy] Of course, you did.
- Of course, you did. And so you... - [Samuel] Yeah. At that time, Your Honor,
I had a--I had a horrible lapse in judgment.
And I knew the person who was requesting this--making this offer
wasn't credible and wasn't reliable and I knew the risk,
but I was just in a--in a hardship, my lease is coming up to an end,
and I just--it was out of my character to do what I did.
I got detained at the border.
I called her from the border.
I said, "Listen, I'm detained, bail me out,
and I'll handle my financial situation."
I told her exactly that on the phone, on the call.
[Judge Levy] And is that correct?
No, he didn't.
[Judge Levy] He didn't tell you anything like that?
He said, "Just go by what I had messaged you."
- [Judge Levy] And how much was bail? - 2,000.
And how much did you have in your PayPal account?
I was two days away from my direct deposit hitting,
so the money was coming in.
$3,557.
And you're saying that he never asked you to post that bail for him?
What--see, what happened was is we didn't know until about five
or it may even been a whole week later what his bail was even gonna be.
Great. So when you found out how much his bail was gonna be,
- did you make arrangements to pay it? - [Abril] That's when I--
that's when I attempt-- I started to attempt to try
and somehow get the money out of the account.
Did you get the money out of the account?
No, I wasn't able to.
You didn't get any money out of the account?
There's one transaction for $300 that I did--was able to get
and it was through somebody, a mutual friend.
How was it that you got the $300?
Well, I sent the 300 from Samuel's bank--
I sent it from his PayPal to that person's PayPal.
That person had their bank account connected,
so they went to the ATM and pulled the money out.
- [Judge Levy] And you took $300 out? - Yes.
So why didn't you take out the money and get him bailed out?
[Abril] 'Cause it wouldn't let me do more than the 300.
[Judge Levy] So you just let him stay in jail?
You can see our attempts.
[Judge Levy] So August 31st, September 1st,
September 2nd, September 3rd...
Well, I wasn't with the person all those days. It was just...
So you're pretty much sitting in jail knowing you have money to get out
but your girlfriend is letting you sit in jail?
- Yes, Your Honor. Exactly. - That's not true.
[Judge Levy] I'm gonna direct your attention to exhibit two.
PayPal transaction history.
- You were in jail on August 20... - [Samuel] 22nd.
- 22nd. - Yes, sir.
And the deposit from the Veterans Association went in on the...
- [Samuel] 28th. - [Judge Levy] ... 28th.
Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] You are Cassandra Abril, right?
Yes.
[Judge Levy] These are mobile payments...
- [Abril] Yes. - [Judge Levy] ... made to you.
August 30th, to you, $400.
August 30th, to you, $887.
August 30th, again, to you, $1,000.
November 2nd, 2023, to you, $300.
November 3rd, 2003, to you, $400.
- That would have gotten him out of jail. - Yes.
- You're right. You're completely right. - [Judge Levy] So what were you doing?
Now, I was in a domestic violence relationship.
- Not in August, you weren't. - Yes, I was.
He--it was before he even got arrested.
He was aware of the abuse.
He witnessed some of the abuse himself.
- [Judge Levy] [laughs] - The man would not leave me alone.
He witnessed the man going through my bedroom window.
You also asked her to pay you rent, right?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Levy] August 20th, you admitted, according to your paperwork, ma'am,
he sent you a text, log in to his PayPal, pay Ken, my landlord,
and he gave you a list of things to pay, and you didn't do any of that.
- I--by that point, my... - [Judge Levy] You didn't do any of that.
- No, I didn't. - [Judge Levy] As a result of you
failing to pay his rent, what happened to your place?
I lost a hundred percent of everything I own.
[Judge Levy] Gone.
Like a brother.
- That's what you said in your answer. - He--yes, I did say that.
By the way, what was it that you were arrested?
The actual charge?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
She know him too?
Yeah, I don't know if she still associates with him but...
[Judge DiMango] Whoa, whoa.
- So she knows this guy? - Uh-uh. I only knew him...
[Judge DiMango] I'm not talking to you.
[Samuel] She...
When I wanna hear a lie, I'll ask you a question.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Samuel Betancourt is suing former friend,
Cassandra Abril, for $10,000 in stolen funds and property.
Samuel claims when he was in prison, Cassandra stole his money
instead of using it to help him get out of jail,
but Cassandra blames her crazy ex-boyfriend
for all thefts and claims she's innocent.
What was it that you were arrested? The actual charge?
- Transportation of narcotics. - [Judge Levy] What narcotics?
Of meth.
- [Judge Levy] And what else? - And fentanyl. The...
- How much? - [Samuel] ... vehicle that I drove...
- [Judge Levy] Yeah? - ... I didn't see it get packed.
I didn't know it was that extreme. I thought...
[Judge Levy] You knew there were drugs in the car.
I knew it was--I knew it was illegal.
It could have been a stolen car. My heart goes out...
The last thing you wanna start doing right now,
Mr. Betancourt, is start lying.
[Samuel] Your Honor, I already pled guilty to the charges.
- [Judge Levy] Yeah, I know you did. So... - And I'm--And on Monday,
I'm going to prison for three to five years because of it.
And then--it doesn't make it okay but I'm ready to pay my debt
- to society for my choices. - It was a bad choice.
I just wanna resolve this situation before I go.
[Judge Levy] I appreciate that.
When you said that you made an error in judgment,
do you know how much drugs were in that vehicle?
- I don't. - [Judge Levy] Yes, you do.
- I don't. - 67 pounds of methamphetamines
and 12 pounds of fentanyl.
- Yeah, I did--I did know that. - [Judge Levy] Yeah, you did,
- 'cause that's what you pled guilty to. - That's what I pled guilty to.
Just because that's what you did
doesn't mean that she's not gonna owe you money.
I don't believe this for a minute. Show me a police report
where you specifically reported your ex-boyfriend
for stealing money that belonged to the person you treated like a brother.
I have a restraining order I...
[Judge Levy] I don't care about restraining orders.
You applied for a restraining order
and then you never showed up
- and it got dismissed. - No. I have another one that's pending.
[Judge Levy] And then you filed another one
only after you figured he was getting out of jail.
- [Abril] No. - So let me explain to you how I saw this.
When she found out that you got caught,
she never thought
- you were getting out of jail... - No.
[Judge Levy] ... and she was gonna empty your bank account.
No.
[Judge Levy] That's exactly what happened.
And her claim that it was her ex-boyfriend who did it is a bunch of BS,
'cause the first thing that she would have done is call the police.
But she didn't do it.
The reason why she went to court and got the restraining order,
by the way, was just so that it-- it was like an alibi
for your case against her, to say, "Hey, it wasn't me.
It was my crazy ex-boyfriend.
And here's the restraining order that I had to get to protect myself,"
in December, after you already made bail 'cause--who made your bail?
My sister-in-law.
[Judge Levy] Sister-in-law posted that bail.
[Abril] And I wasn't aware that he had made bail.
I was not aware. I did--I am a victim of domestic violence.
A lot of domestic violence.
- Me and my children both. - [Judge Levy] Listen,
I'm not saying you did and I'm not saying you didn't.
[Abril] I have--I did call the police.
- There are police reports. I did... - [Judge Levy] Show me.
Show me a police report that says that your crazy ex-boyfriend
stole $7,115 of this man's money.
Show it.
They're for domestic violence. They're not for anything else.
They're for him stealing my phone. They're for him stealing my keys.
They're for him coming into my home and abusing me...
[Judge Levy] Burglary? So your ex-boyfriend commits burglary,
- puts you, your children at risk... - [Abril] Accused...
... right, and you don't contact the police? Listen...
- He threatened my life... - [Judge Levy] Okay.
... in front of multiple people.
Listen, she thought you were never getting out of jail.
- No. That's not true. - [Judge Levy] Judge Acker.
[Judge Acker] Thank you, Judge.
You know, Mr. Betancourt, I am at a loss to understand
how somebody who served his country
in Iraq and Afghanistan ends up in a situation
where you make such a bad choice,
because to have gone from a place where you were doing something noble
to end up in this situation is, to me, really tragic.
- I'm ashamed. - [Judge Acker] What happened?
I just--there's no excuse.
[Judge Acker] Why were things so desperate?
I just--I was in a situation and I just didn't make the right choice.
Plain and simple. No excuses. And...
[Judge Acker] Why were you in such dire straits?
In 2021, I lost everything to a house fire.
2022, I got a house.
2023 came, my lease my ending.
I couldn't afford to extend that lease
with my VA disability and things didn't come.
Opportunity came-- or a so-called opportunity crossed my path
and it was supposed to be easy money and--completely out of my character.
Something I've never done before.
Never even been to Mexico before.
And I took the risk
'cause I don't wanna go back on the streets and be homeless.
I was in the middle of a custody battle. I didn't--
I don't wanna lose my-- lose my shared custody.
And I just-- I was overwhelmed and I did that.
You know, it's unbecoming of a Marine to make the choices I did and...
You will pay your debt and you will have a chance to make better choices.
I'm at a loss to understand how some things happened.
You've said that you are a victim of domestic violence.
I'm not here to challenge that.
But I am here to challenge that you now have a great opportunity
to rid yourself of this person.
Not only is he coming after you but he is stealing from you.
Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] According to these records,
you made an application for a TRO in January.
- [Abril] Uh-hmm. - That's a month after he got out.
- I didn't... - [Judge Acker] And then in February
when your TRO was set for hearing,
instead of showing up in court and saying, "You know what, Your Honor?"
- [Abril] Uh-hmm. - "This man has threatened to kill me.
He is stealing from him,"
but you can't be bothered to show up in court.
- Why? - [Abril] I was scared.
I was scared. I'm still scared.
I'm still dealing with the trauma.
Just talking about it is bringing it all back.
I'm sorry.
My kids witnessed it.
I have clips to prove it now that I was able to finally
get into the iCloud from the device that he stole.
I'd like to see the video that you've submitted.
What are we seeing?
[Abril] God. No, I'm sorry.
[child] No.
[Abril] Don't do this please.
Stop.
[man] What's your problem?
[Judge Acker] When was that video taken?
That one is in November, I believe.
- I'm not--I can't... - [Judge Acker] November?
Because the plaintiff has submitted evidence
of you on his Snapchat.
Didn't you submit that, sir?
[Samuel] Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Acker] November 14th.
Here's a nice photo collage.
Instead of taking selfies and taking pictures
and posting photos of yourself on Snapchat,
you could have called the police.
Where was he? Where were you on November 14th, sir?
- Federal custody. - [Judge Acker] Still in jail.
- [Samuel] Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Acker] Mr. Betancourt,
before I pass the case, I understand you
also maintain that there were some items
that were stolen from your home,
your children's iPads, really everything.
What evidence do you have to link the defendant to that theft?
The only thing I was able to put together is a notarized statement
from my kids' mother.
She was the one that was making trips to check on my home.
She wrote it out. She touched base with my landlord
and my landlord shared with her in her statement
saying that Cassandra was spotted several times
breaking into the house, removing stuff from the home.
[Judge Acker] Judge DiMango.
[Judge DiMango] I think you are so full of it.
The--oh, the tears, the patting your cheeks,
the, "Oh, my family, I'm so worried."
You could shake your head until your ears fall off your head.
I don't really care.
I just know that I didn't leave my common sense
and my experience at the front door when I came in here.
So when I see somebody stand in this courtroom
and use what to me is a very, very serious
situation for a lot of women, domestic violence,
using it as an excuse--
what was that video?
There was a man walking through your house.
I don't know who that was. I don't know what was going on.
What about all these orders of protection that you claim you have?
You don't have one of them in here. Not one.
The only thing you gave us to prove that you're in a domestic situation
is the one where you didn't show up and you didn't go to court
and you didn't get it granted.
So shake your head all you want. You're full of it.
You weren't there. You didn't go through it.
[Judge DiMango] Now, let me ask you, how do you know
that this was not something she was a part of?
This scam?
[Samuel] You know, I don't know.
[Judge DiMango] And, originally, I was coming in here thinking,
"Who do you think you are? You think we don't know
that you went down to Mexico to bring drugs
back into the United States?
You think that we're not smart enough to see that?"
And I also wanna know why you did it.
How much money did you get paid to do it?
$500.
[Judge DiMango] You can't be that stupid.
Either you're not telling me the truth or you...
[Samuel] I didn't realize how big the risk was at the time
and I'm not familiar with transporting what I'm--what I took...
[Judge DiMango] Well, none of us are familiar with transporting drugs,
but I certainly wouldn't-- if I was gonna make a deal,
- it wouldn't be for $500. - An acquaintance asked me--
that's why he's a former acquaintance.
He said, "You wanna make $500?
You have a license and a--and a second form of ID?"
- I said sure. - She know him too?
The former acquaintance? Yeah. I don't know if she still
- associates with him but... - [Judge DiMango] Whoa, whoa.
- So she knows this guy? - Uh-uh. I only knew him...
I'm not talking to you.
- [Samuel] She... - When I wanna hear a lie,
I'll ask you a question.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
You did not know that he had access to his PayPal information.
So you didn't think there would be any way for us to contradict
what you were saying.
Either that or you're just too stupid to think that
PayPal doesn't have that information.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Samuel Betancourt is suing former friend,
Cassandra Abril, for stealing from his PayPal account
and property from his home while he was in jail,
but Cassandra claims Samuel should be suing her abusive
ex-boyfriend who did all the stealing.
What did you do with his money?
It was on my device.
The device did get taken from me, but, yes, it was on my device,
so therefore it does make me accountable.
[Judge DiMango] I don't have anything else to ask you.
[Judge Levy] I do.
You know, Ms. Abril, what you're saying
is that it was only 'cause he stole the phone.
Here's the problem with that.
This is what you wrote, your answer.
"September 19th, my abusive ex-boyfriend
broke in my home and stole from me.
He took multiple items, including my phone
that was logged in to Samuel's account
and had all of his personal information on it.
That's what you wrote, September 19th.
But on August 30th,
before he had the phone,
you took out a thousand dollars,
$887,
$400.
Explain that to me.
You can't.
When you prepared your answer,
you did not know that he had
access to his PayPal information.
So you didn't think there would be any way for us to contradict what you were saying.
Either that or you're just too stupid to think
that PayPal doesn't have that information.
Welcome to reality.
I have nothing further.
[Judge DiMango] We're gonna retire to deliberate.
Thank you very much.
[Cassandra] This case is now in recess.
Parties will be recalled.
[dramatic musical sting]
There's no doubt in my mind that she stole his money.
Under the penalties of perjury, she signed an answer to his lawsuit
in which she very clearly said
September 19th is when her ex-boyfriend stole the phone.
So she had it up to that point.
And she just did not know that he had the PayPal records that proved
she emptied out his account before the boyfriend ever got the phone.
That's assuming you believe that he took the phone in the first place.
[Judge Levy] I--I'm giving her that benefit.
- Okay. - She's still a thief.
He's going to jail for three to five years.
I reviewed the federal docket.
He admitted right away what he did.
He could have put up a defense, "I didn't know the drugs were in the car."
They were tremendous amount of drugs.
- I know. Pounds... - [Judge Levy] 67 pounds
of methamphetamines,
12 pounds of fentanyl.
- But you could tell he's not a smart guy. - Oh, my goodness.
He was only gonna take $500 for all that.
That's all he took. And I really thought
- he was gonna come in here and BS us. - Me too.
He has seen the light as far as I could see.
And he is gonna spend the next three to five years
that he's looking at, with credit for his four months that he spent in jail.
And the only reason why he spent that time in jail
is because she knew in her mind,
with all the drugs that he got arrested for,
he was never coming out.
And that's why.
So the PayPal records,
also the records of different stores that she went to
to make purchases using his PayPal account...
He wasn't driving and there were Mobil charges in there too.
- I mean, he knew he wasn't driving. - Mobil gas charges.
So she stole $7,115 of his.
That has been established.
The electronic items on the other hand,
there's no receipts for them.
There's no indication from anyone who's testified.
While it's not necessarily a stretch and based upon her history
of taking out and stealing that,
I can't necessarily say that she stole his electronic items.
I'd be happy giving him $7,115 for the stuff that
we can prove based upon the paperwork.
Her whole defense was predicated on, you know,
the legal theory with which we're all very familiar--
there's no liability for third-party criminal conduct, you know?
- Some other dude did it. - Yeah.
[Judge Acker] They did it.
But in that case, she would, at least, have a police report.
You would have some evidence.
And then by the way, as you just pointed out, Adam,
her story about the theft doesn't even line up
with the dates on which the money was being taken out.
But, you know, just because he made a stupid mistake
doesn't mean that people can steal from him with impunity.
I wanted him to be very candid when I asked him about the stolen property.
I was hoping for more of a trail.
I just don't see the legal proof.
I don't see that he's made the case with respect to the property.
The case with respect to the money is easy.
- I'm with you, $7,100. - [Judge DiMango] Yeah.
I mean, what bothers me more is that domestic violence
is such a serious, serious allegation.
And for someone like this to throw it out there
to cover up her own criminal behavior, I just find appalling.
And then meanwhile, it broke my heart that he ended up in such a position
where he would sell his life out for $500, basically.
- [Judge Acker] Uh-hmm. - I think that he should get
every penny of the money.
And I'm with you on board.
I don't see how we can connect her to the property.
- [Judge Acker] So we're unanimous. - [Judge DiMango] Unanimous.
- [Judge Levy] Done. Super. - Great.
Unanimous.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Cassandra] Court is back in session.
All parties are reminded that they're still under oath.
- [Judge Levy] Thank you, Cassandra. - [Cassandra] You're welcome.
[Judge Levy] Mr. Betancourt,
I took the opportunity to take a peek into the federal docket
in Central District of California to take a look at
the charges against you and the papers
that were filed on your behalf and I'm gonna read something
- into the record with your permission. - [Samuel] Yes, Your Honor.
"Mr. Betancourt decided to enter the service
after witnessing the events of September 11th, 2001.
He stated that he knew what our nation was going through
and it lit a fire under him to choose to fight for our country.
He joined the Marine Corps just one month later.
He was deployed to Iraq in 2003,
the first unit deployed after war was declared.
Additionally, he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004.
He was involved in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
He is currently on 100% disability
due to post-traumatic stress disorder
and injuries to his knees and back which occurred
while he was deployed in Afghanistan."
That's remarkable.
And for so many others like you
who took the risk to go to war on behalf of the country,
we thank you.
You came in here and you told the truth.
You're gonna pay your price for doing what you did.
It doesn't in any way justify what she did.
Ms. Abril,
you said that you thought of him like your brother
but you didn't quite treat him like one.
And your explanations and excuses here about your ex-boyfriends
breaking in your home at the end of September
as being the reason why the money disappeared
is belied by and directly contradicted by the PayPal
withdrawals that you made.
You gotta do better, Ms. Abril.
If not for yourself, for your kids.
They pay attention. They know
when their parents aren't doing right.
So with all that in mind,
we have good news and we got bad news.
The good news is that, Mr. Betancourt, you are suing
for the return of $7,115,
which was the money that was taken from your account
by Ms. Abril without your permission
and used for her benefit or someone else's.
It is the unanimous decision that you get that back.
However, the $3,426 for the property,
notwithstanding your testimony about the signed letter,
we can't accept that and there's no other direct proof
that it was Ms. Abril who took it.
So it is the unanimous verdict of the court, sir,
that you are to receive from Ms. Abril
the amount of $7,115
for the money that she stole from your account.
- Thank you. - [Samuel] Thank you, Your Honor.
[Cassandra] This case has concluded.
All parties are dismissed.
[theme music plays]
[Abril] I just wanna put everything behind me.
Her choices kept me away from my kids longer than I should have.
Everything's in the past.
That's what upsets me the most is that she chose to not post my bail.
We were friends yesterday.
She was just living her best life on my account.
He got all of it back.
I'm ready to do my time and pay my debt to society as I should.
[announcer] Have you been scammed?
Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
Find us on social media.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]