John Anthony Schmidt, Elder Fraud, Kentucky 2023

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Local Man Charged with Elder Fraud

Louisville, KY – In a shocking turn of events, a federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, returned an indictment on May 2, 2023, charging former Bullitt County Master Commissioner John Anthony Schmidt with engaging in a scheme to commit wire and bank fraud. This move comes as a result of a thorough investigation led by the FBI.

According to the indictment, between September 2014 and January 2019, while serving as the trustee for two separate trusts, Schmidt devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain money from the trusts by means of false and fraudulent pretenses and representations to use the trusts’ money for his own personal expenditures. The defendant made his initial court appearance yesterday before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the Louisville Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Zimdahl is prosecuting the case.

The indictment charges Schmidt with one count of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.

The FBI is still investigating the case, and it is unclear at this time what led to Schmidt’s downfall. However, one thing is certain: the defendant will have to answer to the charges in a court of law.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.