- Julian Flores-Reyes, 35, of Willmar, was arraigned Wednesday on five felony charges of wrongfully obtaining assistance, check forgery and perjury for allegedly receiving almost $22,000 in public assistance on behalf of his children while he worked under a false name.
Unconditional bail was set at $50,000 with conditional release set at $5,000.
Flores-Reyes, who is also known as Alexsander Santos-Rodriguez, also faces a gross misdemeanor for giving a court official the name or date of birth of another and a misdemeanor for identity theft. His wife, Martha Hernandez-Serrano, made her first court appearance on similar charges Tuesday.
According to the complaint, Hernandez-Serrano applied for public assistance for her children from Kandiyohi County Family Services on Nov. 28, 2004. She could not apply for benefits for herself or Flores-Reyes because both were illegal immigrants and not eligible. The application, and six subsequent applications, was signed by the couple between October 2005 on October 2007. All of the documents stated that neither of the couple was employed.
An investigation determined that both Hernandez-Serrano and Flores-Reyes had worked for Jennie-O Turkey Store, using false names, during the entire period they had received the public assistance. Hernandez-Serrano and worked from December 2004 to October 2005 and Flores-Reyes from January 2005 to March 2008.
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Both were interviewed by investigators and admitted to using false names for employment and not reporting the income to family services. The total overpayment in benefits, from December 2004 to November 2007 was $21,996.88.
His next appearance is July 21.
- Kelly Ray Bottomley, 50, no current address, was arraigned Wednesday on a felony charge of violating the registration requirements for a predatory offender.
Unconditional bail was set at $20,000.
According to the complaint, as part of an ongoing investigation on predatory offender registration, a Kandiyohi County Sheriff's detective received a change of address form dated Oct. 7, 2007 from Bottomley when he came to the Law Enforcement Center to register his address in Atwater. The detective made two attempts to verify the address by going to the home, but no one answered the door either time. On Oct. 29, a detective and a deputy went to the home and questioned a man living there. He told officers Bottomley had moved out and he didn't know where he went. No notification of the move was made to the sheriff's office or the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. BCA documents had identified Bottomley's last address as in Fridley and it is unclear if he notified Fridley law enforcement of his move to Atwater. The Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office was not informed of October 2007 move.
According to court documents, Bottomley is a level two sex offender and has been a predatory offender since December 1994 and was aware of his duty to notify law enforcement of any changes of address.
His next appearance is July 21.
