By Denise Lana,
Mindy Jones
An area woman accused of check forgery and theft is expected to plead guilty next week in a Fillmore County, Minnesota, courtroom.
Mindy Jones is accused of committing 33 counts of theft and forgery after she allegedly deposited more than $37,000 worth of checks from her live-in boyfriend’s bank account into her own accounts. In Minnesota, theft of any check written for more than $1,000 is considered a felony — almost a dozen checks allegedly stolen by Jones exceeded that amount.
Judge calls Jones a ‘habitual violator’
Jones is currently being held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee, Minnesota, where she is serving an 18-month sentence after being found guilty of theft by swindle in a separate case decided in March. In that particular case, the 44-year-old owned a consignment business located in Harmony, Minnesota, and sold numerous pieces created by a local artist. Jones paid the artist her portion of the sales, but numerous checks totaling more than $32,000 were found to be fraudulent, according to court filings. It was later discovered Jones did not have funds in her business account to cover those checks.
Jones later obtained a $25,000 economic development loan — enough to cover the money owed to the artist — but Jones failed to pay the artist the funds due. Fillmore County Judge Jeremy Clinefelter said in a December 2023 ruling that Jones continued to conceal the lack of funds when the artist inquired about the amount and deliberately lied to the artist to persuade her to enter into further agreement. It was discovered Jones had used portions of the art sales for personal items, like the down payment on a house.
“When I look at your criminal history, in 1997, forgery and theft — acquisitive crimes — meaning you are acquiring things that don’t belong to you,” Clinefelter said. “You are using deception and false statement to accomplish the offense.”
The judge went on to list multiple offenses Jones had committed between 2002 and 2016, several of them being theft of financial crimes. Clinefelter described Jones as a “habitual violator,” adding he felt nothing in her criminal record showed good reason to sentence her to a period of probation over prison.
Ultimately, Jones was found guilty on eight separate charges and sentenced to a total of 153 months — however, the state of Minnesota does not allow sentences to be served consecutively, and Jones is expected to serve each of her terms concurrently over a 27-month period. The 44-year-old must serve at least 18 months in prison before she’s eligible for supervised release.
Jones is also awaiting trial in Allamakee County for first degree arson and animal abuse in connection with a February 2022 fire which leveled a second consignment store she owned in Waukon. That trial is currently scheduled for early 2025. Authorities performed a year-long investigation in that case, and said Jones had a financial motive and opportunity to start the blaze which destroyed her business, the building and the apartment above the store, killing a family’s dog in the process.
During the investigation, it was discovered Jones was behind on her business loan for her store’s Minnesota location.
Jones must appear in person
A pretrial hearing was held Monday regarding Jones’ decision to plead guilty to the check theft charges filed against her in Fillmore County. Clinefelter met with Fillmore County Attorney Brett Corson, as well as Jones and her defense attorney Graham Henry to discuss the plea arrangements. Henry requested that the court allow Jones to complete the sentencing via teleconference and not trouble officials with transporting Jones from the Minnesota Correctional Facility to Fillmore County to be sentenced in person.
Corson did not object to the request, but the judge insisted Jones appear in person.
“Convert it to a plea and bring her down,” Clinefelter said. “Jones will be there in person next Monday.”
Klinefelter had presided over the art consignment case, during which Jones was released on bail but failed to appear twice during subsequent proceedings. She later submitted a letter supposedly written by her physician, claiming Jones was scheduled for a medical appointment which conflicted with her next court appearance. Corson questioned the words used in the letter and reached out to the hospital to verify its authenticity.
The letter was found to be fraudulent.
“In 20 years of practicing criminal law, for someone to submit to the court through their attorney, a forged record from a doctor, indicating they have a life-threatening situation and need a continuance — I’ve never seen it,” Clinefelter said at that time. “It’s beyond the pale.”
The plea hearing is currently scheduled Monday August 5. According to Corson’s office, if sentencing is concurrent, Jones could receive a maximum sentence consisting of 20 years in prison and/or $100,000 fine, or a combination of both.
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Don’t forget she somehow got off on attempted murder outside of Sumner
It’s well past time for her to b caught an stopped hurting all of us that have been affected by her! An there were many!