STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ)– A man from New York is behind bars in Centre County for his part in stealing thousands of dollars from a State College senior citizen in a scam, police said.

Felix Martinez, 41, told officers that he was ordered by another person to pick up $8,500 from a College Township woman who thought she was paying legal fees for a relative, State College police wrote in the charging documents.

Text messages between Martinez and an unknown number were mainly all Spanish, but some detailed the scam, like how much cash was in the package, according to the criminal complaint. He also claimed a “friend” from the Dominican Republic told him to pick up the package during an interview with police.

The resident was contacted twice by the alleged scammer. For the first one on Tuesday, April 4, they took out $25,000 to pay for the relative’s hospital and legal fees and, while following “specific instructions,” she gave it to a white man in a black truck, police said.

Undercover officers were watching the second meet and saw Martinez walk up to the woman saying he was there to pick up the package.

Police noted in the complaint that since the resident was still on the phone and Martinez was not, he was working with someone else in the scam.

Officers pulled Martinez over after he got into his van and drove off. Police said that they saw the package, and also noted that his driver’s license is suspended.

Martinez faces a felony charge of theft and summary charges of driving while operator privilege suspended or revoked and operating a vehicle without a valid license.

Martinez is currently lodged in Centre County prison with bail set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 12.