Joplin man indicted for fraud against tornado victim

A Joplin man recently was indicted by a federal grand jury in Springfield for a bank fraud scheme targeted toward a woman whose home was destroyed by the May 22 EF-5 tornado that hit the city, according to a news release from Beth Phillips, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Teddy Lane Lawson, 51, was charged in a 20-count indictment returned under seal by the grand jury Aug. 24 and made public yesterday along with Lawson's arrest and initial court appearance.

According to the indictment, Lawson received permission in June to enter the woman's property to remove scrap metal. While there, Lawson allegedly stole a checkbook belonging to the woman, who is identified in the case as L.L. The checkbook contained blank checks.

From July 5-9, Lawson allegedly signed L.L.'s name to 20 checks totaling $2,960 to purchase merchandise from stores in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, the release said.

The indictment charges Lawson with 10 counts of bank fraud and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. Under federal statutes, each count of bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison without parole, and aggravated identify theft has a mandatory sentence of two years in federal prison without parole, which must run prior to other counts, according to the release.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Mohlhenrich and was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Joplin Police Department.[[In-content Ad]]