Central City Woman Charged with Financial Abuse of Her Elderly Grandfather

Jessica Lynn Roloson, 40, from Central City, Iowa, has been charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.­  The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed earlier this week in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. 

The Indictment alleges that, beginning no later than October 2015, and continuing through about January 2016, Roloson stole her grandfather’s identity and participated in a fraudulent scheme to obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.  It was part of the scheme that Roloson, knowing her grandfather’s social security number, aware of his date of birth, and living in his former home, applied to various credit card companies for accounts in his name.  Roloson then used the credit cards on the Internet to purchase goods.  She also obtained secondary credit cards in her true name, or a variant thereof, to facilitate in-person transactions at local stores.  For example, the Indictment alleges that Roloson used her grandfather’s name and social security number without his permission to apply for an American Express card on October 29, 2015.  Then, on November 5, 2015, Roloson used a card bearing the name “JLynn Roloson” to purchase “Pink Yoga Pants,” a “Pink Knit Top,” and a “Bombshell Push Up Brasierre” at a Victoria’s Secret store in Cedar Rapids.

If convicted on all charges, Roloson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 32 years’ imprisonment, a $1 million fine, $200 in special assessments, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­

Roloson appeared earlier this week in federal court in Cedar Rapids and was released pending trial.  Roloson’s next appearance for a status conference is set for July 6, 2016.

As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and was investigated by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 16-CR-43-LRR.

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