Romeoville Man John Knapp Sentenced to 4½ Years for Stealing $175,000 From His Mother-in-Law in Her 90s

Case from 2019 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: March 18, 2019). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

John V. Knapp of Romeoville, Illinois, was sentenced on March 15, 2019, to four and a half years in federal prison for stealing his elderly mother-in-law's identity to take more than $175,000 from her accounts, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1]. He was ordered to pay $177,538.38 in restitution.

How the scheme worked

According to Knapp's plea agreement and evidence described by prosecutors [1]:

1. Family access: In 2014 and 2015, when his mother-in-law was in her mid-90s, Knapp took money from her investment and bank accounts on about 100 occasions.
2. Impersonation by phone: On four calls to her investment company he posed as her, giving her address, date of birth, phone number, account number and partial Social Security number to authorize $129,500 in withdrawals.
3. Cashing out: Once the money reached her bank account, he caused checks to be written to himself.
4. Timing: During one call she was in a hospital; during two others she was living at a rehabilitation center.

The person sentenced

John V. Knapp, 66 at sentencing, of Romeoville, Ill. [1]

• Plea: pleaded guilty in 2018 to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
• Sentence (March 15, 2019): four and a half years in prison and $177,538.38 in restitution, imposed by U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.
• Investigation: U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Red flags

• A relative or caregiver who insists on handling all calls with an older person's bank or investment firm.
• Withdrawals while the account holder is hospitalized or in rehab.
• Checks written from a senior's account to a family member without clear explanation.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Ask financial institutions to add a "trusted contact" and require in-person or video verification for withdrawals.
2. Review statements for older relatives regularly, or have an independent person do so.
3. Report suspected elder financial exploitation to Adult Protective Services, local police, or the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
John V. Knapp, Romeoville, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Coleman)	Pleaded guilty in 2018 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft; sentenced March 15, 2019, to 54 months; $177,538.38 restitution	[1]

The sentence was imposed in 2019; we have not found a source on Knapp's current custody status.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Will County Man Sentenced to More Than 4 Years in Federal Prison for Defrauding His Elderly Mother-In-Law out of More Than $175,000," March 18, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/will-county-man-sentenced-more-4-years-federal-prison-defrauding-his-elderly-mother-law

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