Sartell Man Admits to Exploiting Another Vulnerable Adult

CAMBRIDGE (WJON News) -- A Sartell man has pleaded guilty to swindling an Isanti County woman out of thousands of dollars.

Forty-three-year-old Travis Peterlin has pleaded guilty to the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Charges of Exploitation in Isanti County

According to the criminal complaint filed in Isanti County District Court, Peterlin allegedly convinced the woman to loan him more than $50,000 to buy a pickup and trailer he never bought.

He also allegedly collected checks worth thousands of dollars from the woman for work that was either never done or greatly exceeded what it should have cost.

The woman told an investigator that she felt she was being overcharged but was too embarrassed to tell her children. The woman's power of attorney was not present during the transactions.

In all, the woman was swindled out of more than $143,000.

Peterlin will be sentenced on September 19th.

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More Legal Dealings for Peterlin

In two separate cases filed in Stearns County District Court, Peterlin has pleaded guilty to check forgery for defrauding an elderly man out of thousands of dollars and theft by swindle for taking down payment money for a bathroom remodel but never completing the work.

Peterlin is charged in Hennepin County District Court, alleging that he used his power of attorney over his vulnerable mother to steal more than $170,000 in cash and buy an $86,000 SUV in her name.

That case is still moving through the court system, where Peterlin has a plea hearing scheduled for July 17th.