Mother And Daughter Travel Agents Sentenced To Prison For Cruise Scam

A mother and daughter who formerly operated a travel agency in McKinney, Texas were sentenced to federal prison on Monday by US District Judge Richard Schell in Sherman, Texas. Carol Ribaudo of Clearwater, Florida received a 57 month prison sentence; her daughter Sonia Ritz, also of Clearwater, received 37 months in prison. Both were convicted by a jury last August on one count of conspiracy, five counts of mail fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to sell bookings for a cruise that never existed. The travel agency they operated between July 2003 and January 2004 sold at least $210,000 in bookings to about 50 people for a charter cruise that was to sail in February 2004 out of Miami, but they never actually planned a trip or contracted with any cruise line.

The KTVT-CBS 11 Dallas story states that Judge Schell “announced in court on Monday that Ribaudo told a probation officer that she and her daughter had no intention of serving any time in prison” and ordered both women taken into immediate custody as flight risks. DOJ Press Release.