GREEN RIVER — One of the women involved in the 2017 fraudulent loan case at EZ Cash in Rock Springs has changed her plea to guilty of unauthorized use of personal identifying information.
Kerrin Palmen, 26, of Green River, pleaded not guilty to one count of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses back in February, but changed the plea in the Third District Court of Judge Nena James yesterday afternoon.
Palmen’s attorney Harold Moneyhun and the state jointly recommended a disposition be done to determine her sentencing. He recommended two years of supervised probation and financial restitution in the amount of $3,025.
Palmen, along with co-workers Amber Silva and Erica Elmore, were arrested on October 15, 2018 in connection to an investigation by the Rock Springs Police Department that alleged nearly $150,000 was written in fraudulent loans from EZ Cash between July and December 2017.
Silva plead guilty to three felony counts in the case on January 10 of this year, while Elmore awaits trial on June 3 after pleading not guilty to five felony counts in February.
Palmen’s Testimony
Palmen told James that she began working at EZ Cash in 2016 doing administrative and customer services jobs at the loan company on Foothill Blvd..
“On certain days files were taken into the back room and I was told to stay out front and help customers,” Palmen said. She added that Silva and Elmore were the employees taking the files to the back.
After some time, the three women became friends and Palmen said Elmore told her they were “doing things they weren’t comfortable telling other (EZ Cash) employees about.” Palmen also said Elmore told her she and Silva were having trouble keeping up with all the loans they had taken out illegally, and they eventually asked her to take out a loan in her sister’s name.
That particular loan grew from $1,000 to $17,000 between August and November of 2017, according to Palmen. She told the court that Elmore promised to take care of her and Silva’s living expenses if they cooperated.
“So you cared more about your co-workers that you did your own sister,” James told Palmen. “What a convoluted scheme.”
Palmen also said that Elmore, not she, increased the loans to $17,000.
“But you gave her the means to do it,” James said, to which Palmen answered “yes.”
The disposition hearing will take place within the next few weeks, according to James. The maximum sentence for the crimes committed by Palmen is 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
