Woman Pleads Guilty of Attempting to Defraud Elvis Presley’s Family of Graceland Estate 

This March 13, 2017 photo shows visitors getting ready to tour Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. (AP) 
This March 13, 2017 photo shows visitors getting ready to tour Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. (AP) 
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Woman Pleads Guilty of Attempting to Defraud Elvis Presley’s Family of Graceland Estate 

This March 13, 2017 photo shows visitors getting ready to tour Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. (AP) 
This March 13, 2017 photo shows visitors getting ready to tour Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. (AP) 

A Missouri woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a scheme to defraud the family of Elvis Presley of millions of dollars and steal their ownership interest in Presley's Graceland estate, the Department of Justice said.

The DOJ said Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, organized a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of the estate, where Presley is buried, by falsely claiming that Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie, had pledged Graceland as collateral for a loan that she failed to repay before her death in 2023.

Findley, who was accused of using a fake company, forged documents and false court filings to carry out the scheme, threatened to foreclose the property and auction it to the highest bidder if the Presley family did not pay the claim against the estate, according to the department.

Lisa Marie's daughter, Riley Keough, who inherited the estate after her mother's death, sued Naussany Investments - the company that Findley used in her attempt to auction Graceland - saying her mother had never taken out the loan and that Naussany was engaged in fraud.

As a result, the sale was blocked by a judge, which led Naussany to withdraw all claims to the property, which is a popular tourist attraction that draws more than 600,000 visitors a year, last May.

In August, Findley was arrested and charged with identity theft and mail fraud, according to charging documents.

She faces up to 20 years in prison.



Latina Star Selena's Killer Denied Parole 30 Years After Murder

FILE - A portrait of the late singer Selena Quintanilla is seen in the crowd following a posthumous star ceremony for Quintanilla on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - A portrait of the late singer Selena Quintanilla is seen in the crowd following a posthumous star ceremony for Quintanilla on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
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Latina Star Selena's Killer Denied Parole 30 Years After Murder

FILE - A portrait of the late singer Selena Quintanilla is seen in the crowd following a posthumous star ceremony for Quintanilla on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - A portrait of the late singer Selena Quintanilla is seen in the crowd following a posthumous star ceremony for Quintanilla on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

A woman sentenced to life in prison for murdering a Mexican-American pop star in a Texas motel was denied parole on Thursday, almost three decades after the killing.

Yolanda Saldivar was president of Selena's fan club and had claimed she accidentally shot the singer on March 31, 1995 at a motel room in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The 23-year-old star, whose full name was Selena Quintanilla Perez, was wildly popular in the Mexican-American community of Tejano music -- an upbeat mingle of Texan and Mexican sounds -- and on the verge of breaking through to a larger mainstream audience when she was killed.

"After a thorough consideration of all available information, which included any confidential interviews conducted, it was the parole panel's determination to deny parole to Yolanda Saldivar and set her next parole review for March 2030," the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole said in a statement, according to AFP.

According to the board, the decision was based on the "brutality, violence, assaultive behavior or conscious selection of the victim's vulnerability" of the murder, which indicated Saldivar "poses a continuing threat to public safety."

The singer's family welcomed the decision.

"While nothing can bring Selena back, this decision reaffirms that justice continues to stand for the beautiful life that was taken from us," her family and widower Chris Perez said in a joint statement.

Saldivar, now 64, was a personal assistant to Selena and an employee at her boutique when she fatally shot the star in the back after meeting her at a motel.

The singer had reportedly confronted Saldivar about more than 30,000 dollars missing from her fan club and two of her boutiques.

Witnesses told police that Selena identified Saldivar as her killer before she collapsed and died.

Listed by Billboard magazine as one of the greatest Latin artists of all time, Selena won a Grammy in 1993 and received a posthumous award in 2021.

In 2017, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.