A western Pennsylvania woman impersonated a rodeo star Sherry Cervi and set up a sham company to obtain 500 cell phones and $8,000 in saddles, according to her plea in a Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday.
Susan Rowan, 39, of Vanderbilt, also hoped to meet men by pretending to be world champion barrel racer Sherry Cervi, prosecutors said.
Rowan ordered the cell phones from Sprint Communications, causing the company $430,000 in losses, authorities said. And she used Cerviโs name to meet men and to obtain two custom saddles, they said.
Rowan told Sprint โthat she was a wealthy rodeo star with a business interestโ and employees in need of cell phones, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kitchen said. She ordered about 700 phones from July 2008 to February 2010, and received more than 500, he said.
When confronted by a Sprint investigator, she gave phones to friends and relatives and burned many more in a field, Kitchen said.
Public defender Linda E.J. Cohn disputed the prosecutionโs loss totals and some other details, but otherwise declined comment after the hearing. Rowan is free on bail until her scheduled July 2 sentencing.
Cervi is a three-time world champion racer and 11-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier, according to published reports.
