Sartell Man Sentenced for Exploiting Isanti County Woman

CAMBRIDGE (WJON News) -- A Sartell man has been sentenced for exploiting an Isanti County woman and swindling her out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Forty-three-year-old Travis Peterlin was given a stayed four-year prison sentence and must repay the woman more than $123,000 in restitution. Peterlin will also have to serve 60 days in jail or through work release.

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