Woman Found Guilty of Credit Card Fraud in Jefferson County
A woman has been found guilty after using someone else’s identity as they recovered from a serious injury. According to the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, a jury in the District Court for Jefferson County found Jamie Kay Gust guilty after the two-day criminal trial. She was charged with one-count of credit card fraud, a class D felony, and the value of the property or services fraudulently obtained was between $1,000 and $10,000.

Evidence showed that Gust obtained identification information from the victim while residing in his home as the victim recovered from an unrelated injury. Gust then used that information to open a credit card account in the victim’s name and had statements sent to a P.O. Box in her name. The account was active and undetected for approximately two years. It was discovered when Gust stopped making payments and the account was sent to collections, which damaged the credit history of the victim and alerted him to the fraud.

It took the jury 20 minutes to reach a unanimous verdict. Gust will be sentenced in December and faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500.