Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A former employee of the First Judicial District in Iowa has been sentenced to federal prison for her involvement in a wire fraud scheme. Nicole Foelske, 41, from Jesup, Iowa, will serve two months after pleading guilty to wire fraud on November 14, 2024.
Foelske, who worked in the Juvenile Court Services section in Waterloo, Iowa, misused a credit card supplied by the district. She was intended to buy items and gift cards for children in the Juvenile Court System but instead used it for personal purchases, including household items and transferring gift card values to her bank account. Her fraudulent activities involved over 200 improper transactions exceeding $100,000.
Chief Judge C.J. Williams of the United States District Court in Cedar Rapids handed down the sentence. Foelske will pay a $2,000 fine and serve an additional six months of home confinement. She is required to reimburse $107,745.46 to the Iowa Judicial Branch, which has already been repaid. Following her release, she will be under supervised release for three years. The federal system does not offer parole.
Foelske remains out on bond and will report to the Bureau of Prisons at a yet-to-be-determined date.
Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt prosecuted the case, with the investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office.
