MANSFIELD — One court case is done, but more action looms for Joyell (J.D.) Riley, owner of local nonprofit Mission Possible.
Riley changed her plea of not guilty to guilty last week at Cleveland’s U.S. District Court. She was federally indicted on a wire fraud charge June 29 for collecting money through a GoFundMe page while falsely claiming she had served in the military and was suffering from breast cancer.
Riley’s change of plea contradicts her July 1 vow to fight her case in federal court.
“It’s better than fighting this whole thing in court,” Riley said Monday of taking a plea bargain. “It’s easier to take the plea bargain and I just want to put all this crap behind me. It is what it is.”
When asked whether she served in the military at any point or was treated for breast cancer at any point, she declined to comment.
Riley’s attorney, Adam Stone, said the next step in her case is a pre-sentencing investigation executed by the federal court. A sentencing is scheduled with Judge James Gwin in Cleveland’s U.S. District Court on Dec. 5.
Stone said her maximum penalty is 20 years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine. He said the sentencing will likely not include the maximum penalty.
“It just depends on the sentencing. We’ll know more then,” Stone said Monday.
Riley also faces a theft charge, a forgery charge and two tampering with records charges with a forfeiture specification in Richland County. She was indicted by the Richland County grand jury July 15, just two weeks after being federally indicted.
She faces Richland County Common Pleas Judge Brent Robinson Sept. 14 for a final pretrial.
When asked if Riley plans to take another plea bargain with her case in Richland County, she said, “No I do not.”
Her attorney representing her in Richland County, Greg Tarkowsky did not respond to a phone call seeking comment for this story.
