DANSVILLE WOMAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS FOR STEALING MORE THAN $250,000 FROM ELDERLY VICTIM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Dansville woman has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison after admitting that she and a co-conspirator exploited the trust of an elderly neighbor and drained nearly all of the victim’s life savings through unauthorized withdrawals, transfers, and debit-card purchases, while also using the victim’s identity to obtain credit cards.

Nahtahna Castner, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa following her conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Castner pleaded guilty to those charges on February 11, 2026. At the time of her plea, federal prosecutors said the offenses carried a mandatory minimum sentence of two years and a statutory maximum of 22 years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, the scheme operated from July 2020 through February 2023 and targeted a vulnerable neighbor who was more than 90 years old.

Federal investigators said Castner had gained the victim’s trust before a co-conspirator obtained access to the victim’s banking information.

That access became the foundation for a fraud scheme that continued for more than two years.

Castner and the co-conspirator began withdrawing large amounts of money through ATMs, initiating electronic transfers into Castner’s personal bank account, and making purchases using the victim’s debit card without authorization.

By the end of the scheme, prosecutors said approximately $252,672.97 in unauthorized transactions had been carried out.

The financial damage nearly wiped out the victim’s savings.

The account contained approximately $283,954.95 before the fraud. By the time the scheme had run its course, the balance had fallen to $99.59.

That means a victim who had accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings was left with less than one hundred dollars in the account after Castner and her co-conspirator exploited the access they had obtained.

The fraud extended beyond the victim’s existing bank account.

Federal prosecutors said Castner and the co-conspirator also used the victim’s personal identifying information to apply for three credit cards in the victim’s name.

Those cards were then used to make unauthorized purchases, creating additional losses for three financial institutions in amounts of $2,039.04, $819.33, and $809.74.

The conduct combined two distinct forms of financial crime: theft from an existing account and the creation of new credit obligations using another person’s identity.

Aggravated identity theft carries particularly serious consequences because it involves the knowing use of another person’s identifying information during the commission of specified federal crimes.

Castner’s prosecution began publicly in September 2024, when federal authorities announced that she had been arrested and charged in connection with the theft.

At that stage, prosecutors alleged that the elderly victim was in her mid-90s and owned a duplex where Castner lived on the other side of the property. Authorities said Castner gained access to the victim’s personal and banking information through that position of trust.

The later guilty plea established Castner’s criminal responsibility for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The sentencing resulted in a four-year federal prison term for Castner.

The case also illustrates the particular vulnerability created when financial exploitation is committed by someone who has already established a trusted relationship with an older victim.

Elder financial exploitation does not always begin with an anonymous scam message, fraudulent investment platform, or overseas call center.

It can begin inside a neighborhood, household, caregiving relationship, friendship, or other trusted environment where the offender gains legitimate proximity to financial records, identification documents, passwords, payment cards, or personal information.

Once that access exists, repeated unauthorized transactions can continue unnoticed, particularly when an elderly victim does not regularly use online banking or review every account movement.

In this case, prosecutors said the conspiracy continued from the summer of 2020 until February 2023.

The transactions included ATM withdrawals, wire transfers, debit-card purchases, and fraudulent credit applications, giving the conspirators several methods to extract money from the victim rather than relying on a single transaction.

The scale of the financial depletion is one of the most significant elements of the case.

The victim’s savings declined from nearly $284,000 to $99.59 while the scheme was underway.

For an elderly person, losses of that magnitude can be especially damaging because there may be limited ability to rebuild retirement savings or recover financially through continued employment.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Allen D. Davis II and the New York State Department of Financial Services under Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Testani prosecuted the case for the Western District of New York.

The prosecution adds to continuing federal and state efforts aimed at financial crimes targeting older Americans, particularly cases involving abuse of trust, identity theft, unauthorized electronic transactions, and access to retirement savings.

Castner’s case did not involve an unknown hacker or distant scam operation.

According to federal prosecutors, it involved someone close enough to the victim to gain her trust and access the financial information necessary to strip away nearly an entire lifetime of savings.

That trust ultimately became the tool used to commit the crime.

Castner was sentenced to a four-year federal prison term for the conspiracy and aggravated identity theft offenses.

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