Woman accused in Waukon arson fire convicted of several counts of thefts in Minnesota
A repeat felon who faces a Feb. 22 trial in Iowa for first-degree arson in connection with a 2022 Waukon fire was convicted last week in Minnesota of several counts of felony theft.
Mindy Jo Jones, a mother of three who has gone by the names Mindy Jo Riley, Mindy Jo Bear and Mindy Jo Jacobsen, has lived in Cresco, Fayette, Fredericksburg, Gilbertville, Hawkeye, Marion, Randalia, Sumner, Tripoli, Waterloo and Waukon in Iowa, as well as in Harmony across the Minnesota line in Fillmore County.
From 1997 to 2008, Jones was convicted of theft five times and forgery at least three times, court records show. In 2016, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a Bremer County case that involved writing bad checks worth $164,091 on the Farm Credit Services account of John Eimers, a Sumner resident who farmed with her then-husband.
Jones, 43, owned and ran a home décor shop called Tin, Rust & Harmony in Waukon. She is accused of lighting two fires in the building housing it on Feb. 13, 2022, Super Bowl Sunday. The fire threatened the life of a young couple living in an apartment upstairs, who wrenched their kids ― ages 3, 2 and 6 months ― from a bathtub and ran barefoot from the building just in time to save their lives, authorities said. The fire killed the family’s dog.
In 2022, Jones also was convicted of felony theft by swindle in Fillmore County for selling fake charity raffle tickets to people who hoped to win a John Deere UTV. She was sentenced to work release in that case and given a suspended prison sentence, provided she followed the law and terms of her five-year probation.
At the time of her arrest in connection with the Iowa fire in March 2022, however, she was in trouble again in Minnesota for allegedly forging more checks from the employer of a former boyfriend and writing bad checks.
Fillmore County Attorney Brett Corson said a judge will decide Feb. 12 how to sentence her on eight counts tied to the theft convictions. She has yet to be tried on the stolen checks case in Fillmore County.
Iowa Department of Corrections records show Jones has convictions dating back to 1990, when she would have been just 10 years old.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Woman accused in Waukon arson convicted of thefts in Minnesota
