Iowa woman gets 2 years in prison for defrauding life insurance policy of neighbor

Kimberly Nicole Hollingshed, 37, had been charged with three counts of wire fraud. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Nov. 14, 2022, during a change of plea hearing in U.S. District Court, Davenport. The two other counts were dropped in a plea agreement.

During a sentencing hearing held Wednesday in U.S. District Court, U.S. Magistrate Stephen Jackson Jr. sentenced Hollingshed to 24 months in federal prison to be followed by three years on supervised release.

Hollingshed will get credit for the time she has spent in custody awaiting trial and sentencing. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to U.S. District Court electronic records, on Feb. 22, 2022, Hollingshed created a profile for the term-life insurance account of one of her neighbors.

On March 8, 2022, she accessed the online account of the neighbor and falsely claimed that she was the daughter of the insured. She then named herself as the designated beneficiary on the life insurance policy.

To conceal the changes that she made, Hollingshed used her personal address as the primary mailing address of the account.

On April 12, 2022, Hollingshed contacted CUNA Mutual Group by phone and falsely reported that insured had died. The neighbor is still alive.

On April 14, 2022, Hollingshed sent an email to CUNA Mutual Group that had attached to it a forged and altered Iowa death certificate that falsely claimed the insured was dead, that the insured had resided in Muscatine County, and that the insured died in Muscatine County. She also had attached a death certificate number that was later discovered to be assigned to a death certificate for someone that died May 18, 2017, in Jasper County, Iowa.

CUNA Mutual Group sent Hollingshed a benefit check in the amount of $100,138.37.

Hollingshed then used the money to purchase personal property and at least three vehicles, including a 2008 Hummer H3, a 2014 Buick Encore, and a 2008 Jeep Liberty.

Hollingshed was arrested July 12, 2022, according to U.S. District Court, Davenport, electronic records. She was released on bond the next day.

However, she was arrested on Sept. 8, 2022, after she twice used methamphetamine, once on July 16, and again on Aug. 15. Her bond was revoked and she remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

In her sentencing memorandum, Hollingshed's attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Diane Helphrey, said that Hollingshed was primarily raised by her mother, except for periods of time she was placed out of the home by the Department of Human Services.

Helphrey added that Hollingshed's mother suffered from "severe" addiction and mental health problems and that her mother was involved in numerous mutually abusive relationships. As a result, Hollingshed both witnessed and suffered physical abuse.

Hollingshed and her siblings also were exposed to methamphetamine by their mother at an early age, according to the sentencing memorandum.

Hollingshed has been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and manic episode, Helphrey said.

Hollingshed also has criminal cases pending in Muscatine.

She is scheduled to be sentenced April 7 in Muscatine County District Court in connection with a burglary and forgery case, and a witness tampering case.

According to District Court records, on Jan. 20 Hollingshed pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree burglary and one count of forgery. Each is a Class D felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of five years.

She also pleaded guilty to two counts of fourth-degree theft, serious misdemeanors that carry up to a year in the county jail.

On Jan. 30, Hollingshed pleaded guilty to a charge of tampering with a witness, an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years.