Source: Office of United States Attorneys
SIOUX FALLS – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange has sentenced a Mitchell, South Dakota, man convicted of Aggravated Identity Theft. The sentencing took place on December 2, 2024.
Jeremy Zwetzig, age 44, was sentenced to two years in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $1,935.90, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Zwetzig was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023. He pleaded guilty on August 29, 2024.
The conviction stemmed from an incident on January 23, 2023, when Zwetzig stole mail in Mitchell. One piece of mail contained a check that was not addressed to him. He then used the banking information from that legitimate business check to create a fraudulent check drawn on that same account, unbeknownst to the actual holder of the account. Zwetzig made the fraudulent check payable to an actual person and then negotiated the fraudulent check by depositing it into a bank account that he fraudulently opened using the name of the actual account holder so he could draw the funds and spend them.
This case was investigated by the Mitchell Police Department, the U.S Postal Inspection Service, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Hoffman prosecuted the case.
Zwetzig was allowed to self-report to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service by December 30, 2024.