ST. LOUIS - A woman from St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday admitted defrauding her 96-year-old great-grandmother.
Alexis Butler, 35, waived her right to indictment by a grand jury and pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to one felony count of bank fraud. Butler admitted that sometime before Dec. 2, 2022, she obtained the personal identifying information of her great-grandmother, as well as her account information at St. Louis Community Credit Union. She then obtained online access to the account.
On Dec. 2, 2022, she transferred $2,000 to someone else. The next day, she opened an account for herself at the credit union and began transferring her great-grandmother’s money to her account. Butler admitted as part of her guilty plea that from Dec. 2, 2022 to Jan. 19, 2023, she fraudulently withdrew $26,700 from her great-grandmother’s account. Butler re-deposited $7,500 into the account on January 6, however.
Both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of three years in prison for Butler, and she will be ordered to repay the money.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Pagedale Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys