A woman from Bartow, Florida has been arrested for allegedly fraudulently selling Flagler County properties, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday. 63-year-old Cheryl Annette Jefferson was taken into custody in DeFuniak Springs, Florida on a Flagler warrant.
According to the FCSO’s statement about the investigation, Jefferson sold multiple properties that belonged to other people. The owners in each case were oblivious to the sale and transfer of deed.
Properties Sold Fraudulently
The first case occurred in January 2024, when a woman attempted to pay taxes on her property in Palm Coast’s S Section. She was informed that the property was now listed under another owner.
In April 2024, the cousin of the owner of a W Section property went to check on it. They had expected a vacant lot, but found that a home had now been built there. The lot owner had no idea the development occurred.
Detectives found that the sale of the S Section property listed its actual owner as the selling party. Her driver’s license was included in the paperwork, with one key alteration – Jefferson’s photo was on the license, not the owner’s.
Investigating Jefferson’s Financials
Furthermore, detectives were able to obtain the details of the wire transfers in both property sales. The money was transferred into an account opened by Jefferson in December 2022, the FCSO says. Checks from this account were allegedly later written both to other individuals and to Jefferson’s other accounts.
More transfers were found to have been made from Jefferson’s account to an account she owned with Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange. Two transfers from Jefferson’s Coinbase account were allegedly made to two separate Nigerian men.
As the investigation continued, four other cases were identified which were tied to Jefferson. Two of those took place in Lee County, Florida. One was in Greene County, Georgia. The other was a civil case in Pueblo County, Colorado.
Ties to Country Music?
Between the two Flagler sales, two Lee County sales, and the Georgia sale, Jefferson is said to have had $421,995.30 in the relevant bank account. Upon being interviewed by detectives, she reportedly said she opened the account for her friend. This friend, Jefferson is said to have claimed, is Brian Kelley of the country music duo Florida Georgia Line.
Kelley does have local ties. He was born in Ormond Beach and attended Seabreeze High School and Daytona State College. However, it’s unknown whether Jefferson actually has any real ties with Kelly. She reportedly told detectives that she believed the funds in her account were intended for the construction of a new music studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
With assistance from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a search warrant was obtained for Jefferson’s cell phone. The FCSO says that a conversation was found between herself and another country music star, Chase Rice.
Unlike Kelley, Rice has no immediately obvious ties to the area. He is, however, a recurring collaborator with Florida Georgia Line. Whether Rice has any actual connections with Jefferson is, as with Kelley, unconfirmed.
Jefferson’s Arrest
The DeFuniak Springs Police Department arrested Jefferson on a Flagler County fugitive warrant, after two years of investigation into her alleged dealings. She’s been charged with organized scheme to defraud over $50,000. After being booked into the Walton County Jail, Jefferson was released on her $100,000 bond.
“Crime knows no borders, and it doesn’t stop at the Florida Georgia Line,” Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly quipped in a prepared statement. “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.”
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
