ST. LOUIS – A woman from Lake St. Louis was arrested Tuesday on an indictment accusing her of stealing more than $66,000 from her disabled uncle.
A federal grand jury in St. Louis on August 10 indicted Jessica Medrano, 41, on one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of access device fraud and 12 counts of wire fraud.
Medrano pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday to the charges.
The indictment says that between January 21 and May 16 of 2022, Medrano used a debit card account number issued to her uncle to make $12,668 worth of transactions at Walmart. During that same period, she electronically transferred more than $54,000 from her uncle’s bank account to her Cash App account, the indictment says.
Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The access device fraud charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, and the identity theft charge has a mandatory two-year term consecutive to any other charge. All carry a potential fine of up to $250,000.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.