Former First Judicial District Employee Sentenced to Federal Prison Defrauding the District

A former employee of the First Judicial District of the State of Iowa who misused credit cards to steal money intended to be used for children in the Juvenile Court System was sentenced today to two months in federal prison.

41-year old Nicole Foelske from Jesup, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 14, 2024, guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.

In information contained in a plea agreement and disclosed at the sentencing hearing, Foelske admitted she worked in the Juvenile Court Services section of the First Judicial District of the State of Iowa located in Waterloo.  In that position, she was provided with a credit card to purchase items and gift cards for juveniles in the Court system, including juveniles in Child in Need of Assistance cases.  Foelske, however, used the credit card to purchase household items for herself and gift cards from stores and then used the gift cards to either purchase items for herself or to transfer the value of the cards to her bank account.  All told, Foelske made over 200 improper purchases on the credit card totaling more than $100,000.

Foelske was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Foelske was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment and fined $2,000.  Foelske was also sentenced to serve six months of home confinement following her imprisonment.  She was ordered to make $107,745.46 in restitution to the Iowa Judicial Branch, which Foelske has already paid.  She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Foelske was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office.