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Location: Akron, Ohio | Update from Akron newspaper.
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/northfield-woman-scammed-22-people-across-u-s-selling-horses-other-items-and-not-providing-them-1.782087
Culp’s side
Culp agreed to an interview with the Beacon Journal via video monitor in the Summit County Jail because she wanted to clear up a few things she said during her sentencing. She wouldn’t, however, allow her picture to be taken. (Photo courtesy Twinsburg Police) Lydia Culp in this updated photo from the Twinsburg Police investigation file.
Culp, who was born in Kentucky but spent most of her childhood in Florida, said she grew up around horses and auto racing. She said she started buying and selling horses in Florida as a hobby, but also worked for veterinarians. Culp claims she began to sell horses and other items on the internet as her only job in December 2015 when she moved to Ohio to live with Reece, whom she met on Facebook.
Culp said she ran into trouble when she sold a horse or other item she didn’t have and then couldn’t find what she needed to satisfy the order. When she messaged back and forth with customers for days and weeks, she said she was still working to find what they wanted. She often was working on multiple sales at once.
Culp insists she made legitimate sales. Asked if she expected to get caught, Culp replied indignantly, “I wasn’t trying to do it intentionally!”
Asked why she used different names, Culp said she was advised “this was frowned upon but OK.” She said she often called the horses she was supposedly selling “Boomer” because she “thought it was cute.”
Culp became defensive when asked about her health — she told several victims she had cancer or had been in the hospital — and about what she spent the money on.
“I am not answering questions on finances,” she said.
Culp admitted, though, that she was supporting Reece’s dune buggy racing.
During her sentencing, Culp put some blame on Reece, claiming he had manipulated her, but she changed her tune in the jail interview. She said Reece encouraged her to stop and fix what she had been doing. She said she loves him and hopes he’ll wait for her until she gets out of prison.
“It’s a little rocky right now,” she admitted. “I tell him, ‘I’m sorry’ every day.”
Asked what she wanted say to her victims, Culp apologized.
“I hope one day to make this right,” she said. “I will work hard to right every wrong.”
“They didn’t deserve this,” she added. |
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