BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A 35-year-old Lawtey woman was sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation after pleading to making over $16,000 in unauthorized purchases with her aunt’s credit cards.
Brandi Fawn Knight was arrested in March 2023 for exploitation of the elderly and fraudulent use of identification of a victim aged 60 years or older.
According to court papers, the victim and her son called the sheriff’s office after discovering purchases on a credit card that the victim had canceled. The pair told deputies that when they called Capital One about the card, the company told them the card had been reopened, and the address for the card had been changed to another address, which matched that of the niece. Knight told deputies she was unaware the card had been canceled and that she only used it with her aunt’s permission. Meanwhile, the aunt signed a complaint withdrawal due to not wanting to file criminal charges against Knight.
However, two days later, after finding additional purchases on the card, the victim called deputies back, saying she wanted to press charges.
Deputies subpoenaed Capital One for records on the account and received recorded telephone calls in addition to account statements from the company.
Deputies wrote that in one recorded call, a woman believed to be Knight could be heard canceling the card and then later in the call requesting a replacement card and giving Knight’s phone number as the point of contact for the account.
The victim told deputies she allowed Knight and her family to live with her for free in exchange for the niece helping the elderly woman with her finances. This arrangement gave the defendant full access to the victim’s financial information.
The victim told deputies Knight made over $7,000 in fraudulent purchases with the Capital One card and another $9,000 in fraudulent buys with a USAA credit card owned by the victim.
