COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus woman accused of using the identity of a dead infant in a longtime fraud scheme that included obtaining phony documents and the theft of $1.5 million in pandemic relief money has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
Ava Misseldine, 49, who recently moved to Utah, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to 16 counts of wire and passport fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and passport fraud carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Misseldine stole the identity of a baby who died in 1979 and is buried in a Columbus cemetery. Misseldine is accused using the infant’s identity to apply for an Ohio ID in 2003, as well as a Social Security card and driver’s license.
In 2007, she reportedly used the baby’s identity to obtain a student pilot certificate and U.S. passport. Misseldine was employed under the false ID as a flight attendant with JetSelect, prosecutors say, and wrote in paperwork that she needed the passport to travel internationally.
Misseldine reportedly used both the false ID and her real identity over the next 13 years to obtain identity documents. She caught the attention of investigators in 2021 when she tried to renew the fraudulent passport, authorities say.
Court documents accuse Misseldine of using her real and fake IDs to obtain approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020. Her loan applications list her businesses as various bakeries and catering companies, including her former bakeries Sugar Inc. Cupcakes & Tea Salon in Dublin, Ohio, and Koko Tea Salon & Bakery in New Albany, Ohio, and at Easton Town Center in Columbus, prosecutors say. She submitted forged documents to support her loan applications.
Misseldine reportedly used the relief loan money to buy a home for $647,500 near Zion National Park in Utah and a home for $327,500 in Michigan. She moved to Utah last year and in August and September 2021, she obtained driver’s licenses in both names, authorities say.
As part of Wednesday’s plea, Misseldine will pay more than $1.5 million in restitution and forfeit her Utah home and profits from the recent sale of her Michigan home, both of which she bought with the stolen pandemic money, prosecutors say.
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