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Second person pleads in alleged vehicle fraud scheme targeting elderly Dawson County couple
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A California man has entered a negotiated plea of guilty for his role in an alleged scheme to fraudulently buy vehicles with three others last year, according to documents filed Feb. 22 in Dawson County Superior Court. 

This story continues below.

Bradley Scott Wismar, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony identification fraud and one count of exploitation and intimidation of an elderly person after he was initially arrested by DCSO in October.

Wismar was sentenced to 10 years and a $2,000 fine on the first fraud count, with the first year to be served in confinement and the rest to be served on probation. Ten-year sentences for the other two charges will run concurrently with the first offense.

In December, co-defendant Jazmine Ranae Wheeler pleaded guilty to one count of identity fraud, a felony. DCSO arrested her in September. She also received a sentence of 10 years, with the first 276 days in confinement and the rest to be served on probation.

Charges

In June 2022, Wismar and Wheeler were indicted, along with suspects Brandon Phillip Raible and Austin William Reid.

Dawson County Sheriff’s Office warrants and an indictment accused Wismar of trying to use the elderly couple’s checking number to obtain a 2020 Toyota Tacoma and of stealing more than $25,000 from one of the victims on Feb. 13, 2022. 

The indictment accused Wheeler of writing a $35,096 check on Feb. 12, 2022, for a Mercedes with the elderly victims’ banking details. 

DCSO charged Raible with three counts of identity fraud and Reid with one count of that offense. 

Raible is accused of trying to use one of the victims’ checking account numbers to buy a BMW X-5 SUV on Feb. 6, 2022 and obtaining one account number and statement on Feb. 23, with the intent to use that information fraudulently. 

Additionally, Raible and Reid were both accused in the indictment of attempting to use that same information in order to purchase a motorcycle on Feb. 17, 2022. 

Raible’s case has since been transferred to the court’s dead docket, according to a document filed Feb. 9, 2023. 

The transfer was authorized by Superior Court judge Bonnie Oliver, the presiding judge for all four defendants’ cases. 

An order was issued for Raible’s arrest on June 28, 2022, and since then, Raible has failed to appear for his scheduled court dates. Neither DCSO or other law enforcement agencies have located Raible to execute the outstanding arrest order, according to the Feb. 9 filing.

“Therefore, the State of Georgia has no reasonable expectation that the defendant will be located and brought before this court in the foreseeable future. In addition, there is no bond to forfeit,” Oliver stated in the transfer order.  

In light of those reasons, the case was transferred “until such time as the defendant may be apprehended on the outstanding arrest order and brought before this court.”

DCN will continue to follow the remaining defendants’ cases.