SUPERIOR COURT
The theft of a debit card from a 74-year-old victim resulted in a 10-year sentence for the offender.
Jessica Renee Wright entered guilty pleas to charges against her in Jones County Superior Court Feb. 27 and received 10 years for the exploitation and intimidation of disabled adult, elder person or resident, and one year each for two counts of financial transaction card fraud. The counts are to run concurrently for a total of 10 years, and the sentence may be served on probation.
Wright was 21 when she was arrested April 7, 2022, and charged with elder abuse-exploit/inflict pain to deprive essential services to disabled person, elder abuse or financial transaction card fraud and financial card theft.
She was indicted on the exploitation and intimidation charge and financial card fraud charges by a Jones County Grand Jury June 28, 2022. According to a report of the investigation into the theft by Jones County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Douglas, he was dispatched to the victim’s residence March 30 in reference to a theft. He said he spoke to the complainant when he arrived, who explained that her debit card was missing, and she went to the bank to get assistance.
The bank printed out statements for her, and that was when she realized her card had been stolen. Douglas said the victim was unsure when the card had been stolen but showed him the bank statements.
The deputy said the first fraudulent charge was March 12, 2022, and the last charge was March 25. He said there were a total of 39 fraudulent charges and three overdrafts. The total cost of the charges, not including the overdraft fees, were $558.48.
Douglas said of the fraudulent charges, 28 were CashApp transactions listed to Jessica WR. He said warrants were obtained for transaction card fraud, one for felony elder abuse and one for felony financial transaction card fraud.
