Woman accused in Waukon arson fire convicted of several counts of thefts in Minnesota

[cigaretteman]

A repeat felon who faces a Feb. 22 trial in Iowa for first-degree arson in connection with a 2022 Waukon fire was convicted last week in Minnesota of several counts of felony theft.

Mindy Jo Jones, a mother of three who has gone by the names Mindy Jo Riley, Mindy Jo Bear and Mindy Jo Jacobsen, has lived in Cresco, Fayette, Fredericksburg, Gilbertville, Hawkeye, Marion, Randalia, Sumner, Tripoli, Waterloo and Waukon in Iowa, as well as in Harmony across the Minnesota line in Fillmore County.

From 1997 to 2008, Jones was convicted of theft five times and forgery at least three times, court records show. In 2016, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a Bremer County case that involved writing bad checks worth $164,091 on the Farm Credit Services account of John Eimers, a Sumner resident who farmed with her then-husband.

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Jones, 43, owned and ran a home décor shop called Tin, Rust & Harmony in Waukon. She is accused of lighting two fires in the building housing it on Feb. 13, 2022, Super Bowl Sunday. The fire threatened the life of a young couple living in an apartment upstairs, who wrenched their kids ― ages 3, 2 and 6 months ― from a bathtub and ran barefoot from the building just in time to save their lives, authorities said. The fire killed the family’s dog.

In 2022, Jones also was convicted of felony theft by swindle in Fillmore County for selling fake charity raffle tickets to people who hoped to win a John Deere UTV. She was sentenced to work release in that case and given a suspended prison sentence, provided she followed the law and terms of her five-year probation.


At the time of her arrest in connection with the Iowa fire in March 2022, however, she was in trouble again in Minnesota for allegedly forging more checks from the employer of a former boyfriend and writing bad checks.

Fillmore County Attorney Brett Corson said a judge will decide Feb. 12 how to sentence her on eight counts tied to the theft convictions. She has yet to be tried on the stolen checks case in Fillmore County.

Iowa Department of Corrections records show Jones has convictions dating back to 1990, when she would have been just 10 years old.

Woman accused in Waukon arson fire convicted of several counts of thefts in Minnesota

The Iowa mother of three accused of setting a life-threatening fire has a history of convictions dating back to 1990.

www.desmoinesregister.com

 

[auntie_fah]

I am guessing there isnt going to be anybody in this thread asking if anybody is seeing a pattern here.

 

[RollingBallofButcherKnives]

Was going to with hold judgement until I saw a pic but with contemplation formed a pic in my head of a skinny rat toothed meth head with skin lesions who at 43 looks 73…..

 

[BGHAWK]

A permanent home behind bars is probably the best for society.

 

[cigaretteman]

 

[MichaelKeller99]

Very superficial story here on just one chapter in this bizarre lady's past (https://www.wqad.com/article/news/c...ense/526-c5372e65-bd2d-4a5f-9248-c40629b2d715)

Eimers is awarded $462,000 from Mindy (insert alias here) then some random dude just shows up at his (Eimer's) house to talk, pulls out a gun and shoots him? How convenient the only witness was shot dead.

And another one: (https://fillmorecountyjournal.com/tin-rust-swindle/)
Back in 2006, Mark Yungtum, age 29 at the time, was fixing up his childhood home at 214 West Fourth Street in the peaceful little Iowa town of Sumner – a population of just over 2,000.

On the evening of March 6, 2006, his house was set ablaze.

Nearby neighbors discovered Yungtum facedown by his burning house, and dragged him to safety. He was taken to Community Memorial Hospital where his injuries could be treated, eventually transferred to Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa. He suffered first and second degree burns to his right arm, a stab wound to his left thigh, a chest bruise, and red ring marks around his neck.

Yungtum claimed that he was letting his dog out around 10:30 p.m., when three masked men assaulted him. They dragged him into the house, and tightened a wire around his neck with two wooden dowels – a garrote. While torturing Yungtum, the perpetrators poured gasoline in the house and lit a cigarette to ignite the fire.

Several witnesses who encountered Yungtum the night of the fire, heard him say that the three attackers had said that Mindy Riley might be sending him an “early birthday present.” He immediately blamed Mindy for the attack.

Upon further investigation of the fire by the Bremer County Sheriff’s Department, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Sumner Police Department, and the State Marshal’s Office, in September of 2007, Yungtum was arrested and charged with first degree arson for allegedly setting his house on fire.

During the jury trial, the prosecution claimed that Mark Yungtum intentionally injured himself and set his house on fire so he could collect the insurance money, which totaled approximately $242,000. He later admitted that he needed the money due to some financial problems.

At one point, Mindy Jo Riley, age 30 at the time, took the stand.
She shared that she had known the defendant, Mark Yungtum, since seventh grade.

Apparently, Yungtum knew Mindy pretty well, as it was shared with the courtroom that he had listed her as the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. As she testified, Mark’s son was also Mindy’s nephew. And, Yungtum’s relationship with his son’s mother did not end well.

Lots of people who dropped the ball on this one.

 

[McLovin32]

wood not bang....wood light on fire though

 

[lucas80]

A permanent home behind bars is probably the best for society.

She's got a 20 year run of committing crimes, it sucks that we'll pay to incarcerate her, but she's a menace. She's probably been caught a fraction of the times she's scammed someone.