Ashtin D. Schutjer, Access Device Fraud, Nebraska 2024

A Council Bluffs woman has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for her role in a brazen access device fraud scheme that left a vulnerable elderly couple financially devastated.

Ashtin D. Schutjer, 36, was sentenced on December 20, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for access device fraud. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. handed down the sentence, which includes no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, Schutjer worked as a caregiver for an elderly married couple, Victim 1 and Victim 2, in 2014. As part of her duties, she had access to their First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) debit card and account information. In 2018, a co-branded Chase/Amazon credit card was opened under a derivative form of Victim 2's name, with Schutjer as the primary user. Victim 1 was not listed on the account or as an authorized user.

After Victim 2's death in August 2018, Schutjer continued to use the Chase/Amazon card to make purchases, including airline tickets, a Microsoft Xbox, and restaurant and grocery purchases in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Payments on the card were drawn from Victim 1's FNBO checking account, leaving the account depleted of over $150,000.

Schutjer also used the Chase/Amazon card to pay for purchases made on her Amazon customer accounts, listing Victim 2's name as the party to be billed at her own residential address. The order history showed multiple orders placed using the Chase/Amazon card and shipped to the defendant's home, the victims' home, and other addresses.

Victim 1's FNBO account was entirely depleted due to Schutjer's crime. In sentencing Schutjer to imprisonment for 14 months, Chief Judge Rossiter told her, 'You took away everything this woman (Victim 1) had.'

Schutjer will be placed on a 3-year term of supervised release after her release from prison. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $151,693.74 to Victim 1 as a result of her crimes.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mandatory Facts:

Defendant/respondent: Ashtin D. Schutjer

Criminal charges: Access device fraud

City and state: Council Bluffs, Iowa

Exact date: December 20, 2024

Sentence or outcome: 14 months' imprisonment, 3-year term of supervised release, $151,693.74 in restitution

Dollar amounts: $151,693.74

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ne/pr/council-bluffs-woman-sentenced-14-months-ordered-pay-over-150000-restitution-vulnerable