A serial squatter was sentenced to twenty years for fraud after she’d been evicted almost three dozen occasions and racked up hundreds in property injury underneath a number of aliases in Texas and Colorado for many years.
Heather Ruybal was slapped with the utmost sentence in Dallas on Aug. 31, after she was discovered responsible July 27 of felony fraud for utilizing a false title and writing a foul verify to lease a home in 2023, Denver7 reported.
“That is what she did for a dwelling. Moved into people’ houses realizing that she wasn’t going to pay her lease, then exploit the eviction course of,” Moore advised the outlet, including that her observe report confirmed she had “no regret” for her crimes.
Final month, Ruybal was convicted of utilizing her father’s id to lease the house in Rowlett, Texas, underneath the alias Heather Schwab, then by no means paid a dime in lease after shifting into the residence, Dallas County Assistant District Legal professional Amber Moore mentioned.
Ruybal was additionally ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to the sufferer, Jessica Davis, who rented her the Rowlett, Texas, property via an inventory on Zillow.
Ruybal had rented the house underneath the title “Rayes Ruybal,” the title of her father, based on Davis.
When Ruybal lastly moved out after months, Davis mentioned the four-bedroom “dream” dwelling reeked of urine and cigarette smoke and was plagued by trash, meals and particles all through.
“Each of the bathrooms are clogged with mounds of bathroom paper and different seemingly fluids,” Davis beforehand advised Fox Information.
Davis finally misplaced her dwelling after she was unable to make mortgage funds because of the misplaced rental earnings, Denver7 reported.
The tough sentencing got here after prosecutors unearthed Ruybal’s prolonged prison historical past, discovering she had been a serial fraud offender throughout Texas and Denver — with almost three dozen evictions spanning greater than twenty years.
Moore mentioned the courtroom was in a position to improve Ruybal’s punishment primarily based on a previous 2018 conviction by which she additionally used her father’s and aunt’s identities to acquire a lease in Colorado.
Ruybal was sentenced to 6 years in jail in Colorado however served simply over three years earlier than her launch.
“We needed the courtroom to ensure the choose understands that she’s mainly a profession prison,” Moore advised the outlet.
One other Colorado landlord, Stephanie Williams, advised Denver7 that Ruybal allegedly contaminated her property with methamphetamine after renting her dwelling to Ruybal in 2024.
Williams additionally mentioned Ruybal had moved out however saved paying lease till March, discovering Ruybal’s son had been dwelling there with out permission whereas Ruybal lived in Fortress Rock, the place she additionally stopped paying lease across the identical time.
Again in Texas, Moore mentioned Ruybal will probably serve at the least 5 years of her 20-year sentence earlier than changing into eligible for parole.
“I hope it sends a message that her time is up,” Moore mentioned. “Not is she going to have the ability to do one thing like this and get away with it.”
Ruybal can also be dealing with felony costs in Denver after being accused of stealing greater than $500,000 from a former employer, Denver7 reported.
Ruybal allegedly spent almost two years at an unidentified firm as a payroll supervisor and bookkeeper, funneling funds to fictitious workers and a shell firm — all linked to her personal financial institution accounts, based on an arrest affidavit obtained by Denver7.
She made her preliminary courtroom look for that fraud case on Tuesday.
