ALBANY COUNTY — Susan Barr, 57, of Altamont, was arrested as part of a “hate crime ring,” according to a press release from the Albany County District Attorney’s Office. Those said to be members of the ring are accused of offenses to defraud the elderly.

Barr was arraigned on May 27 by Judge Roger McDonough in Albany County Court on six felony charges — third-degree grand larceny as a hate crime, third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree grand larceny as a hate crime, fourth-degree grand larceny; fifth-degree conspiracy as a hate crime, and first-degree scheming to defraud — as well as two misdemeanor charges — petit larceny as a hate crime and petit larceny.

Members of the ring — Barr, another woman, and five men were pictured in the release — have “been going to the homes of elderly, asking to do housework for them,” said Janie Frank, a spokeswoman for the office. She continued, “They get paid to do the housework, and this can be anywhere from like sealcoating a driveway to fixing a computer. And they get paid to do this, and then they either don’t do it or they don’t complete the work. And then they just take the money.”

The indictments, copies of which were provided to The Enterprise by the district attorney’s office, allege that, for instance, between February and May 2014 Jessica Paradiso, 27, of Schenectady, and Barr selected a victim they believed to be elderly; they then took from his Albany home a computer that was supposedly in need of repair as well as money for the repair, but never returned the computer.

The indictments say the elderly were targeted in “various locations throughout Albany County”; this included homes in Albany, Bethlehem, Colonie, and Latham.

Henry Hicks, 58, and John Waterson, 37, both of Albany, have pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in July and June, respectively, the release says; between August and October of 2014 Hicks and Waterson, “personally and in concert with others, did overcharge numerous people more than $3000.000 USD each under false pretenses of performing work and did select the people against whom the offense was committed due to their ages, regardless of whether the beliefs or perceptions were correct.”

Hicks, who pleaded guilty to grand larceny as a hate crime, faces nine to 18 years in state prison. Waterson, who pleaded guilty to grand larceny and conspiracy — but not as hate crimes — faces three-and-a-half to seven years.

Four others, the release says, are “in the same ring facing similar charges” and have recently been arraigned in Albany County Court. These four are, in addition to Barr and Paradiso, Frank Chrysler, 49, of Watervliet, and John Risto, 60 (no address given).

All are charged with grand larceny as a hate crime, which is a Class C felony. Most are also charged with a number of other crimes such as conspiracy and petit larceny, both as hate crimes.

A seventh subject, Brian Barr (no address given), has, according to the press release, been “charged in the conspiracy” but not yet arraigned.

Asked about the different numbers of counts with which various suspects in the alleged ring were being charged, Frank said, “There were different homes, or different people that were affected, and not each victim was affected by all of these people. So like two of them would offer to do housework for one person, and three would offer for another.”

On the reason for the hate-crime charges, Frank said, “Because this ring was purposely going after elderly people, it does qualify as a hate crime, because it was due to their age that this crime was committed.”

According to New York State law on hate crimes, the seriousness of the crimes is compounded by the element of hate. These crimes, the law states, “inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of the group to which the victim belongs.”

Frank said that hate-crime charges raise the level of a felony by one category. So, for instance, third-degree grand larceny that would normally be a Class D felony, when charged as a hate crime, would becomes a Class C felony.

“It does become a more serious class of felony,” she said. Asked if sentencing would be more severe, Frank said, “The consequences could be significantly higher.”

Age is included as a possible victim category in New York State but not in federal law. Article 485 of 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.”

Federal law on hate crimes is narrower, and mentions disability, but not age, defining hate crimes as “offenses involving actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.”

Another distinction between federal and New York State law on the topic is the type of crime included. Federal law focuses on violent crime such as causing bodily injury, kidnapping, or killing. New York State law allows hate crime charges to be brought for nonviolent crimes that include petit larceny, grand larceny, or the conspiracy to commit these.

The Enterprise was unable to reach the assistant district attorneys prosecuting the case, Jessica Blain-Lewis of the Financial Crime Bureau and Daniel Lynch, bureau chief of the Federal Crimes Unit.

This is not Susan Barr’s first arrest. She was arrested on March 16, 2014 in Florida, by the Brooksville Police Department, and charged with petit larceny. Madeleine Austin, records manager with the Brooksville Police, confirmed that Susan Barr was charged with misdemeanor retail theft for stealing $132 of merchandise from a Walmart. The merchandise was recovered and Barr was taken to the Hernando County Jail for booking, Austin said.

Corporal Thomas Dorr of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office in Pasco County, Florida also confirmed that Susan Barr was arrested by that office on March 18, 2014 for retail theft. He did not have any further details.

Frank said that she could not give The Enterprise an address for Susan Barr, but she did say, “I can assure you that [it] is in the village of Altamont, according to the residence listed on the arrest report.”

District Attorney David Soares replied to Enterprise questions with a statement given to various news outlets: “The Office of the Albany County District Attorney has made it a priority to aggressively pursue prosecutions against those who seek to take advantage of our seniors. Whether you are a contractor, home health aide, or anyone looking to exploit our seniors, you will receive our fullest attention.”

Albany County has a hotline for anyone who has been a victim of a scam. The Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (S.A.L.T.) team can be reached at 518-477-SALT.