Sartell Police Chief's Wife Charged With Crimes Against a Vulnera

ST. PAUL (WJON News) - The wife of the Sartell Police Chief has been charged with financially exploiting a vulnerable adult.

Get our free mobile app

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has charged Laci Silgjord with:

Felony financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult,
Gross misdemeanor financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult,
Felony theft by swindle.

The Attorney General’s office claims Silgjord met the now-deceased victim in May of 2020 while she was a police officer in Cloquet. Later that year, she conducted a welfare check and found the victim in poor condition after suffering an apparent stroke.

Silgjord was eventually named the victim’s guardian by the court in September. The victim passed away in October 2020 with no surviving children and no will. The criminal complaint claims Silgjord continued to act as the executor of the estate after her death, despite having no legal authority to do so.

Silgjord attempted to inherit the victim’s entire estate, valued at $71,601, and an inheritance the victim was set to receive from her stepmother valued at $86,611 despite no written estate plan awarding anything to her.

Silgjord left the Cloquet Police Department in 2022.

Brandon Silgjord, the Sartell Police Chief, had no comment when contacted by WJON news.