Naples man who swindled elderly couple sentenced to 4 years

Luis Emilio Hernandez, a Naples contractor who pleaded guilty to fleecing an elderly client following Hurricane Ian, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison and must pay back $1.2 million.

In addition to the prison time, Hernandez must participate in mental health treatment services while serving three years of supervised release when he leaves prison, U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell ruled at a hearing Monday morning.

Hernandez pleaded guilty in March to two counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering.

According to court records, including the plea agreement, a then 85-year old woman wrote Hernandez about 35 checks totaling $1.26 million over a 14-month period following Hurricane Ian in 2022.

The woman, identified in court papers as Doris Reiner, and her now-deceased husband, owned a single-family house on a gulf access canal that suffered significant damage during the hurricane.

Hernandez, introduced to the couple by a friend, presented himself as a licensed contractor saying he would repair the house.

Each of the checks they gave him listed a construction related item in the memo section but prosecutors said permits required for the jobs were never requested and the work was never done.

Hernandez continued asking Reiner for money even after the house was sold, going so far as to visit the Fort Myers assisted living facility where she had moved to ask for more.

According to the minutes of Monday’s hearing, Reiner was called to testify though what she said was not recorded in the document.

In a four-page letter to the judge included in court records, Hernandez writes that he is “filled with remorse, regret” and that he comes before the court with “a humble heart.”

Hernandez went on to write that after his father died unexpectedly in 2012, he took on the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings and eventually cared for his nieces and nephews, as well as his mother.

“Family has always been my greatest priority,” he writes. “I have always worried about whether everyone had eaten, whether they were safe, and whether they were OK before worrying about myself. I tried to be the person they counted on in difficult moments.”

He went on to describe how his wife and children have been affected — including his oldest son cutting off contact — and the effects the past few months have had on his health.

Not mentioned in the letter is how the ordeal affected Reiner’s health or her family's health. 

In the approximately 1,882-word letter, only about 72 words refer to her, 14 directly addressing Reiner and the “burden, stress and hardship” his actions caused.

In comparison, the word “I” appears 121 times in the letter, the word “my” 69 times, the word “me” 28 times and the word “myself” three times.

Hernandez, according to the minutes, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshalls.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Darcey prosecuted it.