Rochester Woman Charged With Felony Counts of Identity Theft

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester woman with a lengthy criminal history involving misdemeanor theft is now facing two felony identity theft charges.

A criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County Court on Friday accuses 34-year-old Jade Marie Sweeney of using the identity of a woman who was residing in a nursing home after a hospital stay to obtain a credit card and an auto loan in the victim's name. The crimes allegedly occurred in September and October 2021.

The court document says a Rochester Police Officer responded to a report of identity theft and spoke with the victim in early October of 2021. She indicated a credit card statement had been delivered to her home but she did not have an account with the company and alleged Sweeney was responsible.

About a week later, a Rochester Police investigator assigned to follow up on the case noticed that someone had applied for an auto loan and registered and Audi Q7 in the victim's name. The criminal complaint says the email address on the vehicle loan application included "jadesweeney" and the sales manager told him Sweeney claimed she was helping to purchase the vehicle for her mother.

The court document states that the value of the Audi purchased in the victim's name was nearly $36,000. It also indicates the credit card taken out in the victim's name was used to make nearly $2500 in purchases.

Court records show Sweeney has eight prior convictions for misdemeanor theft. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance on the felony charges on October 5th.