Louisiana Man Indicted for Wire Fraud After Allegedly Stealing Over $300,000 from Incapacitated Relative

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Michael D. Hopwood Jr. was indicted for wire fraud after allegedly stealing over $300,000 from an incapacitated relative. He has pleaded not guilty.

A federal grand jury recently delivered a four-count wire fraud indictment against 39-year-old Michael D. Hopwood, Jr. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hopwood appeared in court for his arraignment and pled not guilty to the allegations against him.

According to the accusation, Hopwood was tasked with assisting a permanently incapacitated relative with some financial matters. Hopwood allegedly illegally conducted unauthorized purchases, transfers, and withdrawals from the victim's account for his own advantage, without the victim's knowledge, approval, or agreement, after obtaining the victim's personally identifiable information for the purpose of setting up automatic bill pay. This plan was carried out between about November 2019 and February 2020 and resulted in a loss of more than $300,000.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation, and Assistant United States Attorneys Harley W. Ferguson and Lyman E. Thornton III are prosecuting this case.

An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.