FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida woman was arrested this week after deputies said she went around selling other people’s homes, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
In a release on Tuesday, deputies said they began their investigation after receiving a call back in January 2024 from a woman who said her property in the S-Section had been sold to someone else.
“She only learned of the sale after she was unable to pay her property taxes now that the property was listed under someone else’s name,” the release reads.
While records from the sale listed the victim as the seller, the photo on the driver’s license actually showed the woman, identified as Cheryl Jefferson, 63, of Bartow.
Another case soon popped up in April 2024 involving a victim who learned that a home had been built on their vacant lot without their knowledge, deputies added.
“Further investigation revealed that wire transfers from the sale of both properties were deposited into a bank account Jefferson opened in December 2022,” the release continues. “Since the account’s inception, Jefferson also wrote several checks to other individuals, along with checks to herself that she deposited into a separate bank account in her name.”
Additionally, investigators said that Jefferson wired funds from the account to her Coinbase account, as well as to two accounts owned by Nigerian men.
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Detectives revealed they eventually uncovered four other cases connected to Jefferson involving the fraudulent sales of property: two in Lee County, one in Georgia, and another in Colorado.
“Jefferson told detectives she had opened the bank account for a friend — whom she believed to be Brian Kelley, a band member of Florida Georgia Line — and another individual, whom ‘Brian’ had introduced her to," the FCSO wrote. “Jefferson also stated that she thought the funds were for the construction of a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee.”
Polk County deputies also searched Jefferson’s cell phone, finding texts between her and another person, “Chase Rice,” which is the name of another famous country music singer.
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As a result, the DeFuniak Springs Police Department arrested Jefferson, who now faces a charge of organized scheme to defraud out of Flagler County. She was later released on $100,000 bond.
“Crime knows no borders, and it doesn’t stop at the Florida Georgia Line,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This criminal may claim she has some high-profile friends, but I don’t see her friends getting her out of the jam she’s put herself in.”