Nashville woman pleads guilty to opening credit card, securing car loan, buying car in Rochester woman’s name

(ABC 6 News) – A Nashville, Tennessee woman pleaded guilty to one charge of identity theft in Olmsted County Court Monday, May 13.

Jade Marie Sweeney, formerly of Rochester, was previously accused of two counts of identity theft after allegedly opening a credit card, obtaining a loan, and buying a car in the name of a woman in a nursing and recovery home.

The details of Sweeney’s plea agreement were not publicly available Tuesday morning.

Her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

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Rochester Woman Accused of Identity Theft

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(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester woman faces charges after allegedly committing identity theft in 2021.

According to court documents, Rochester police began investigating then-32-year-old Jade Marie Sweeney in early Oct. 2021, after a woman living in a nursing and recovery home said a credit card statement for an account she had not opened had been delivered to her NW Rochester home.

The woman said she believed Sweeney had opened a credit card in her name, as Sweeney had been asking the woman about credit card statements that had been delivered to her.

According to the statement, between Sept. 18, 2021, and Oct. 4, 2021, Sweeney allegedly made $2,465 worth of purchases using the card.

Later in the month, Rochester police allegedly learned that the alleged victim had an auto loan in her name, and an Audi Q7 registered in her name, although the woman said she had neither applied for a loan nor purchased a vehicle.

According to court documents, the email address included on the vehicle loan paperwork included “jadesweeney.”

Court documents allege that when police spoke to the Northwest Rochester car dealership, workers said Sweeney came to the dealership claiming she was helping her mother purchase a vehicle.

The dealership staff told law enforcement that they did not know if the alleged victim signed the loan paperwork in front of a salesperson, according to court documents.

According to court documents, the Audi was valued at $35,698.

According to Minnesota Court Records Online Sweeney failed to appear in Olmsted County court Wednesday, Nov. 15, on two charges of felony identity theft–transfers, possesses, or uses the identity of another person.

Sweeney’s criminal history includes pleading guilty to one count of possession of burglary of theft tools dating back to 2019, according to Minnesota Court Records. She had been placed on two years’ probation after passing dishonored checks at an Owatonna Fleet Farm, then taking items without paying when a check failed to pass in 2020.