ALBANY COUNTY — Jessica Paradiso, 27, of Schenectady, pleaded guilty in Albany County Court on Jan. 15 to two felonies — two counts of third-degree attempted grand larceny, and one count of fifth-degree conspiracy as a hate crime, according to a press release from Albany County District Attorney David Soares.

​Paradiso faces up to 6 to 12 years in state prison when she is sentenced at a future date to be determined by the court.

Between February and November 2014, according to the release, Paradiso and several co-defendants including Susan Barr, 57, of Altamont, and five men — together composing what Soares called a “hate crime ring” — went to the homes of people that they knew to be elderly and asked to do housework for them.

Janie Frank, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, told The Enterprise at the time of the arrests in May 2015 that Paradiso and her co-defendants would be paid in advance to do such jobs as sealcoating a driveway or fixing a computer. In one case that Frank mentioned, Paradiso and Barr took a computer from a man whom they believed to be elderly, as well as money for the repair they promised to do, and never returned the computer.

On May 20, 2015, Paradiso was arraigned in Albany County Court before Judge Roger McDonough on five felonies: two counts of third-degree grand larceny as a hate crime, two counts of third-degree grand larceny, two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, one count of fifth-degree conspiracy as a hate crime, and one count of first-degree scheming to defraud. She was also arraigned at the time on two violent felonies: two counts of second-degree burglary as a hate crime, and two counts of second-degree burglary. In addition she was arraigned on two misdemeanors: one count of fifth-degree conspiracy, and one count of petit larceny. She was also arraigned on one count of petit larceny as a hate crime.

The cases against her co-defendants remain open and pending in Albany County Court, the press release says.

The hate-crime charges arose because elderly victims were specifically targeted; the district attorney’s office termed it a “hate crime ring.” The state penal code defines “hate crimes” as those in which “victims are intentionally selected, in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation.”