Mindy Jones Jailed Prior to Sentencing

Mindy Jo Jones was scheduled to appear in Fillmore County District Court for sentencing on Monday, February 12, but was unable to appear due to a medical emergency. Due to Jones’ unavailability on Monday, February 12, a continuance of the sentencing hearing was scheduled for February 16.

Found Guilty

Fillmore County Judge Jeremy L. Clinefelter found Mindy Jo Jones guilty of eight out of 14 counts.

Jones was found guilty on the charges of two counts of Theft by Swindle, two counts of Theft by Check, three counts of Theft Take/Use/Transfer Movable Property-No Consent, and one count of Issuance Dishonored Check-Offense.

While Mindy Jones owned and operated a retail store known as Tin, Rust & Harmony, located in Harmony, Minn., she sold furniture and decor on consignment for business owner Marsha Angell based out of New Hampton, Iowa. The arrangement was supposed to be 25% of the sale of each consigned item to be retained by Jones, and the remaining 75% was to be paid to the artist.

According to court documents, Jones issued checks from her business account with First Southeast Bank of Harmony to the artist and those checks were returned as Not Sufficient Funds, all of which remained unpaid at the time of the trial. Three of these checks totaled $16,689.45. Jones then told Marsha Angell she would purchase all of her inventory in her Tin, Rust & Harmony store, issuing a check for $15,728.22. The checks issued to Marsha Angell selling items on consignment at Mindy Jones’ store in Harmony totaled $32,417.67, all turned up as Not Sufficient Funds.

Court documents indicated that Jones did not have sufficient funds in her business bank account for Tin, Rust & Harmony beginning in January 2021, but she continued to deliberately mislead Marsha Angell while issuing her checks for payment of inventory. Jones’ business received loans from the bank and PPP loan money, and the moment funds appeared in her business bank account, she would move those funds to other accounts including her personal bank account.

Mindy Jones will appear in Fillmore County District Court again on Monday, March 4, 2024, for a continuance of her sentence hearing.

Jailed Prior to Sentencing

Mindy Jo Jones appeared in Fillmore County District Court on February 16 at 1:30 p.m., in spite of a request for a continuance presented by her attorney Assistanct Public Defender Milidn Shah.

According to court records, Jones submitted a document from UnityPoint Health Clinic Family Medicine in Waterloo, Iowa. This document, “electronically signed” by an ARNP (advanced registered nurse practitioner) from the medical facility, indicated that Jones needed to keep her scheduled appointment at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, February 16, to readjust the medication she is prescribed for her epilepsy. The document concluded with, “If we don’t get this addressed immediately it runs the risks of permanent damage to the brain or even death should she have another epileptic episode.”

Upon receiving this request for a continuance, Fillmore County District Attorney Brett Corson reached out to the medical facility to determine the legitimacy of this document. A staff member with the facility responded to Corson’s inquiry, and indicated that the ARNP staff member “electronically signed” on the document “did not compose this letter, nor does she agree with the statements included in the letter.”

During the sentence hearing on February 16, Shah and Corson argued points about how Jones’ charges should be handled when factoring in her previous convictions in Iowa.

With Judge Clinefelter in agreement, both attorneys felt it would be best to have time to evaluate Iowa law compared to Minnesota law with respect to counts two through seven.

Upon conclusion of the hearing, Judge Clinefelter addressed the forged medical document that Mindy Jo Jones presented to her public defender in order to request a continuance of her sentence hearing.

“The court cannot trust you,” stated Judge Clinefelter. “You are a danger to the community. I have never seen a defendant, in 20 years of practicing law, use their attorney to submit false documents to the court.”

Judge Clinefelter ordered Jones to be taken into custody at the end of the February 16 hearing, held without bail or bond. Jones was booked in the Fillmore County Jail following the sentence hearing. She will appear in court again on March 4 for a continuance of the sentence hearing.