Angela Frase, 60, Sterling, was
sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of mail fraud for accepting insurance checks after she knowingly submitted false claims. Frase also was ordered to pay restitution of $327,072.
Frase was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Cleveland after pleading guilty to devising a scheme that took place in July and August of 2019 to defraud a homeowner’s insurance company, according to a news release from the district court.
The scheme began when Frase called fire emergency services July 2 and 3, 2019, to report a fire in her home, according to court documents. Fire marshals were unable to determine the cause of the fire at the time. The insurance company housed Frase and her husband at an extended stay hotel. An investigation later conducted by insurance company experts determined no evidence of electrical failure as the cause of the fire.
Explosive-causing levels of natural gas in home
On the morning of Aug. 6, 2019, the fire department responded to a natural gas leak at the Frase residence. Home remodeling employees entered the home to work on the damage caused by the fire but were forced to evacuate due to the strong smell of natural gas, according to the release.
The fire marshal later determined the stove was turned on, filling the residence with explosive-causing levels of natural gas. Frase and her husband were the last people in the home before the discovery of gas and claimed to have locked the doors. There was no sign of forced entry.
On Aug. 6, 2019, at about 10:43 p.m., Frase left her extended stay hotel room, drove to her home on Spruce Street in Seville, and started a fire, according to court records. Investigators later learned through her cell phone location data that she remained in the area of her home from 10:54 p.m. until 11:39 p.m. and then returned to her hotel room.
Fire, explosion, racial remarks painted on garage
On Aug. 7, 2019, at about 12:35 a.m., the Sterling Fire Department and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home in reference to a fire and explosion. The Ohio State Fire Marshal later determined the cause of the fire was incendiary in nature. In addition to starting the fire, Frase spray-painted what appeared to be racial disparities on her own garage and vandalized her neighbor’s vehicle.
On Aug. 11, 2019, between 9:30 and 10 p.m., Frase returned to her home and again spray-painted hate speech on her own garage. When a sheriff’s deputy responded and discovered the words, Frase told the deputy she saw two suspicious individuals running through the field behind her property.
Three days later Frase
called authorities again after she placed a stuffed doll painted black with a noose tied around its neck in her own mailbox, according to the news release. On Aug. 23, she again
contacted law enforcement to report she found an envelope at her residence while walking around the property that had a racial slur written on it and inside was a plastic bag filled with an unknown white substance and the word “die.”
From Nov. 1, 2019, to June 17, 2020, the insurance company mailed four checks to Frase for property losses and damages, which she accepted. She later was charged with four counts of mail fraud for attempting to swindle money from the homeowner’s insurance company through intentionally deceptive actions.
The case was investigated by the FBI Cleveland Division, Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio’s Division of State Fire Marshal. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Zarzycki for the Northern District of Ohio prosecuted the case.