Electric Shock: Dead Infant Used to Steal Electricity, Cops Say

Theft went on for four years, said police

Updated 3:52 PM EDT, Mon, Sep 7, 2009

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A New Haven couple tampered with their meter AND put their account in their dead infant's name, said police.

A couple is charged with stealing more than $4,000 in electricity from United Illuminating by using their deceased infant's Social Security number, according to police.

Felipe Cordero, 62, and a woman police believe is his wife, Lillian Cordero, 44, are facing numerous charges including third-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny, according to the New Haven Register.

Lillian Cordero is charged with identity theft, police told the Register, because she admitted to U.I. that electric service at their home on 44 Palmieri Ave., was in the name of a daughter who was born Dec. 18, 1997, and died June 14, 1998.

There are still relationship questions, according to police, because the couple had many aliases, including the surname Soto. Police also could not verify whether the Corderos are a couple or have some other relationship, but police told the Register the two identified themselves as husband and wife. It is also not clear whether Felipe Cordero was the baby's father.

The alleged electricity theft occurred between September 2004 and December 2008. UI spokesman Al Carbone told the Register that the crime contributed to the company's estimated $500,000 in losses per year from stolen electricity. That cost keeps rates for paying customers on the rise, according to Carbone.

The way the Corderos allegedly did it, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avery and Carbone who talked to Register, is they drilled a hole in the meter bulb and put a pin or other object in to hold the meter in the 12 o’clock position so that it didn’t turn when electricity was used.

A computer program detected the abnormality, which helped U.I. catch the Corderos.

“We’re vigilant: Our field technicians are excellent in spotting theft techniques,” Carbone told the Register. “It’s not only dishonest, but dangerous.”

The couple owes U.I. an additional $4,062.62, according to the Register.