Clifford D. Johnson, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana
Kirsten M. Blackwell, a 63-year-old resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been sentenced to 84 months in prison by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady. The sentencing follows Blackwell's guilty plea to charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay made the announcement.
In addition to her prison sentence, Blackwell will face three years of supervised release and must pay $3,628,192.67 in restitution.
Court documents reveal that between 2019 and 2022, Blackwell conspired with others to defraud victims out of millions of dollars. She laundered the proceeds through various bank accounts she had established. Victims were deceived into transferring funds to accounts controlled by Blackwell through several fraudulent schemes. After laundering the money, she sent it to an overseas conspirator. The group attempted to steal over $5 million in total, with Blackwell laundering more than $3 million obtained through business email compromise schemes, romance and military scams, as well as fraud against a government program.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation into this case. Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller prosecuted the case.
