A Malibu woman pleaded guilty Monday to helping her boyfriend, a convicted fraudster, flee the United States and avoid serving a federal prison sentence.
Lucinda Jane Weist Manera, 63, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aiding and abetting Bernhard Eugen Fritsch after his conviction for wire fraud in April 2025.
From June 2025 to September 2025, Manera assisted Fritsch by hindering and preventing Fritsch’s apprehension and punishment.
According to prosecutors, on June 2, 2025, Fritsch fled the United States by car and crossed the international border into Mexico to avoid being taken into custody and avoid serving any prison sentence related to his fraud conviction, prosecutors contended in court papers.
Manera admitted that she lied to FBI agents about her contact with Fritsch and made payments totaling about $7,475 to support him while he was a fugitive. She also authorized a charge to her bank account to pay for his hotel in Mexico, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Manera also sought information on how Fritsch could travel from Mexico to his native Germany.
Fritsch was sentenced in absentia in October 2025 to 15 years in federal prison and fined $35,000. He also was ordered to pay more than $26.8 million in restitution after being convicted of defrauding investors of more than $20 million.
Manera is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5 and faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.