WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The adoptive father of missing Salisbury teen Erica Parsons was found guilty Monday on over 40 counts of fraud and identity theft.
“They did not find him guilty of all of the objects under the conspiracy. But they only need to find him guilty of one object for the count to stick, so effectively he was found guilty of all 43 counts,” says Parsons’ attorney John Bryson.
Bryson says he wasn’t really surprised.
“You know, you hope for better, but you never know. Anytime you put your faith in the hands of the jury, it’s a little bit of a roll of the dice,” he said.
Earlier this month, Sandy’s wife Casey pleaded guilty to 15 fraud charges. Prosecutors say the couple continued to collect government assistance after their adopted daughter Erica disappeared in 2011.
She wasn’t reported missing until August 2013 and has never been found.
Casey Parsons paced nervously outside the courthouse Monday as the verdicts were read. She had been sitting in the back row of the courtroom all day.
“Why did you walk out right before…?” WCCB asked her. Casey replied, “Because I didn’t want to hear it.”
Otherwise, the Parsons had nothing to say.
They will likely spend years behind bars for fraud, though investigators haven’t been able to tie them directly to Erica’s disappearance.
Both Sandy and Casey Parsons will be sentenced in February 2015.
