Charges: Cloquet man stole mail, forged checks

A Cloquet man faces charges for allegedly creating an elaborate system of false identities and forged checks based on stolen mail.

Jory Richard Johnson, 32, is facing 11 different felony charges, including two for mail theft, two identity theft, two theft by swindle, four for check forgery and one controlled substance possession charge. The charges were originally filed in November 2020, but it appears a warrant was issued for Johnson in December 2020 and not recalled until May 7.

During the course of the investigation, which began in the fall of 2019, officers uncovered a pattern of conduct wherein Johnson and his partner, Vegas Lydia Peterson, would allegedly steal mail and checks from mailboxes.

According to the criminal complaint, Johnson and Peterson would used the stolen mail to set up accounts in another person’s identity, alter the “pay to” line on the check to the defendants, or to the identity associated with the fraudulent bank account. They would then transfer the money to one of their own accounts.

Officers executed a search warrant in December 2019 at the couple’s Sahlman Avenue home in Cloquet, and allegedly found “hundreds of items of evidence including mail, financial cards, benefit vouchers and checks made out to others, mail packaging addressed to others but sent to 1611 Sahlman, government identification cards with defendant Johnson’s picture and the information of known victims, multiple electronic devices and a binder containing dozens of financial card and government identification cards belonging to others.”

Based on the investigation, officers identified at least seven direct victims of identity theft, residing in Silver Brook and Thomson townships. In some of the cases, the stolen mail was outgoing mail taken from the mailbox. Officers also discovered fraudulent accounts in the name of other people outside Carlton County and Minnesota.

The mail theft charges carry a maximum sentence of three years of a $5,000 fine, or both. Charges for identity theft and check forgery each carry a maximum sentence of five years and/or $10,000 for each charge. For theft by swindle, the maximum is 10 years and/or $20,000

Johnson is also accused of using someone else’s identity to secure a loan in excess of $25,000 for the purchase of a Ford truck. The fifth- degree drug charge for possession of methamphetamine has a maximum sentence of five years and/or $10,000.

Cash bail was set at $4,000 for Johnson or $40,000 bond on May 7. He made his initial court appearance on Wednesday, May 12, when he was still in custody at the Carlton County jail. An omnibus hearing is set for May 19.