CLEVELAND — (UPDATED 2:55 P.M.) Mansfield woman Joyell “J.D.” Riley was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on wire fraud charges for collecting money through a GoFundMe page while falsely claiming she had served in the military and was suffering from breast cancer.
Riley refuted these allegations Friday afternoon.
“It’s bull crap. What I do for this community is what I do for this community. I don’t even take credit for what I do,” Riley said. “And it’ll all come out in court.” She added that she has been helping military veterans in some way, shape or form for that last 10 years.
Riley is also the founder and owner of a local nonprofit, Mission Possible, aimed at providing lunches to local homeless people and military veterans at the square daily in downtown Mansfield. The organization was founded in 2010.
According to court files, an FBI investigation revealed that Riley had received $3,515 from 32 donors since launching her GoFundMe page in November 2014.
The indictment reads Riley described herself as a “highly decorated combat veteran” while serving as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Riley declined to comment when asked if she served in the military at any point in her life and if she was ever treated for breast cancer.
“It’ll all come out in court,” she said.
Funds donated to the GoFundMe account were first sent by wire to an account in California, then Riley transferred the funds to a Directions Credit Union account in Ohio. The federal grand jury identified four individuals from Michigan, Arizona, Texas and Washington who donated to the fraudulent GoFundMe account.
One of those, an individual from Adrian, Michigan, donated $1,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Debaggis said Riley will be summoned to appear in court. As of Friday morning, he was not aware of an arraignment date.
Debaggis, who has handled a number of wire fraud cases, said the federal crime’s statutory penalty is 20 years imprisonment.
Court files show Riley’s case will be heard by U.S. District Judge James Gwin in Cleveland. An arraignment date has not yet been set.
Adam Stone did not return phone calls and an email seeking comment on this story.
A general search for Riley’s GoFundMe account did not return favorable results. Riley declined to comment on whether the account was taken down.
