Lucinda Jane Weist Manera, a longtime Malibu resident and actress who works under the name Lucy Weist, has admitted in federal court that she helped her convicted tech-CEO boyfriend dodge the FBI and flee the United States. The 63-year-old pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of being an accessory after the fact, a charge that carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Her plea lands in the middle of a high-profile fraud saga that prosecutors say drained investors of more than $20 million.
Federal prosecutors say Manera backed up Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, the founder and former CEO of StarClub Inc., by lying to FBI special agents, arranging lodging and sending small payments that kept him hidden in Mexico before he later slipped away to Germany. Court filings say she made at least 10 payments totaling about $7,475, authorized a $534 hotel charge for him while he was in hiding and searched online for routes to move him from Mexico to Germany. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, those actions are at the heart of her plea agreement.
Fritsch's conviction and local ties
Fritsch was convicted in April 2025 after a nine-day trial in which prosecutors said he raised more than $20 million from investors by falsely hyping a celebrity-monetization app called StarSite. Instead of building the business as promised, authorities say he blew investor money on big-ticket luxuries, including a yacht and high-end vehicles, then fled the country rather than be remanded into custody. When the jury returned its verdict, local outlet covered the conviction and detailed the Malibu connections.
Prosecutors' account of assistance
Manera’s plea agreement traces her involvement from June through September 2025, alleging she helped conceal Fritsch’s location and funneled payments to a third party who was sheltering him. While she was assisting from Southern California, Fritsch remained out of reach long enough to be sentenced in absentia in October 2025 to 15 years in federal prison, a $35,000 fine and roughly $26.8 million in restitution. His appeal to the Ninth Circuit was tossed this spring because he is a fugitive, but prosecutors note he could still seek to reinstate that appeal if he surrenders by August 21, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.
What Manera faces
In her plea, Manera admitted she concealed and assisted a convicted felon after the fact. She is scheduled to be sentenced on October 5 in Los Angeles, where a federal judge will decide how much time, if any, she will actually serve within that five-year statutory maximum. The FBI’s investigation into the broader scheme is still active, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica E. Tait of the Major Frauds Section is handling the prosecution, according to MyNewsLA.
Who is Lucy Weist?
Outside the courtroom, Manera has spent decades in the entertainment industry, turning up in supporting roles on both the big and small screens. Industry listings credit her with parts in Blown Away, Predator 2 and The Silencers. She has lived in Malibu for years and appears under several variations of her name in film and television databases. Platforms such as Prime Video and MovieMeter list her credits and biographical details.
The guilty plea adds a distinctly local side plot to what federal prosecutors describe as a sprawling, international fraud case involving millions of dollars and a CEO on the run. The real drama now shifts to Manera’s October sentencing, where the court will decide whether her role in helping a fugitive boyfriend hide will cost her years behind bars, while authorities say they continue to chase any remaining co-conspirators and assets tied to the scheme.
