Adela Holzer, Former Broadway Producer, Off to Jail Again

Adela Holzer, a former Broadway producer whose credits include Hair, Dude, Lenny, and The Ritz, was sentenced to nine to 18 years in prison on Friday, August 8 for having swindled a number of immigrants to the United States.

Holzer was accused of promising to expedite residency and citizenship paperwork for immigrants with the supposed help of a U.S. senator in Washington. Using the name Adela Rosian, she charged each immigrant up to $3,000 for her “services” and sometimes asked for additional funds to cover her travel expenses to D.C.

On Friday, Holzer was convicted of grand larceny and fraud for conning 91 immigrants out of more than $200,000. In total, she may have taken as many as 700 victims for as much as $1.5 million, according to an Associated Press report. “I’ll see you dead like me,” the handcuffed former producer reportedly told prosecutor Connie Fernandez as she was led from a Manhattan courtroom.

This is not the first time Holzer has run afoul of the law, nor will it be her first visit to the hoosegow: She previously served time in prison for cheating several theater producers out of millions. She was also involved in a scam wherein, falsely claiming to be the “secret wife” of banker David Rockefeller, she bilked people through bogus oil, mineral, and land deals. It has been rumored that Holzer’s antics inspired the comedy It’s Only a Play by Terrence McNally, author of The Ritz.