Kentucky mom on trial over alleged $48,000 GoFundMe fraud in 2024

ELYRIA — A Kentucky woman who claimed to be a victim of a controversial 2024 Elyria police raid went on trial Tuesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on felony fraud and theft charges for allegedly lying in an online fundraiser that collected more than $48,000 in charitable donations. Courtney Price, 27, of Canada, Kentucky, is on trial in Judge Chris Cook's courtroom on charges of telecommunications fraud, grand theft and falsification in a theft offense, all felonies. She has pleaded not guilty. Price lied when she said she was raising money for her son Waylon's medical care and instead used proceeds for personal expenses, according to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Assistant Prosecutor Paul Griffin told a jury of eight men and five women that Price posted on her "Justice for Waylon" GoFundMe campaign "telling people it's going to be used for the child's medical care." It wasn't, Griffin told the jury, asking its members to hold Price responsible "for soliciting donations and not using them" the way she said she would. Defense attorney Amir Gholizadeh attacked the investigation and prosecution case as retaliation for his client suing the city of Elyria, Elyria Police Department and individual Elyria police officers in federal court in 2024. "They say this is a crime. They say all this is illegal and that they're not retaliating" against Price, Gholizadeh told the jury, asking jurors to put a stop to alleged government overreach. "This really is a miscarriage of justice. The government is not doing the right thing." The federal lawsuit, which seeks $5 million in damages, is pending in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. Price had been staying with her aunt and uncle in a rented house while waiting for her son Waylon, then 17 months old, to have open heart surgery at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in February 2024. Elyria police looking for a large number of stolen guns raided 331 Parmely Ave. on Jan. 10, 2024, setting off two distraction devices outside including one that shattered a window. Courtney and Waylon Price were the only ones at home. Waylon Price was hospitalized for several days, according to testimony in court. It turned out Elyria police had the wrong house despite having the juvenile suspect's correct address in their files. A separate Lorain County Sheriff's Office investigation found that Elyria police had probable cause for the raid. "Whether police made a mistake is not for you to decide," Griffin told the jury. Authorities said Price, who was unemployed, lied in media reports and online when describing the damage the raid did to elicit sympathy. It wasn't until Elyria police released video footage of the raid that her story changed, Griffin told the jury. By then her online "Justice for Waylon" GoFundMe campaign was up and running under her aunt's name, and it was edited several times as police released more information to the public. The money raised by the GoFundMe went into her aunt Redia Jennings' bank account. Jennings then sent Price some of that money by Cash App, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Price allegedly used a portion of the $48,502 the campaign raised not for her son's medical expenses, but for personal expenses including $2,300 for two Apple iPhones, for transportation and meals, among other things. The Prosecutor's Office investigated Courtney Price and the GoFundMe campaign after former Elyria Police Chief William Pelko asked it to, former prosecutor's investigator Ernest "Buddy" Sivert testified Tuesday. "Some of the more serious allegations" Courtney Price made in the GoFundMe and in media interviews "did not match the video" taken by Elyria police at the scene, testified Sivert, now a detective with the Sheffield Lake Police Department. Gholizadeh alleged that it was Jennings and another family member, Christina Plunkett, who set up the GoFundMe, not his client. Even if she did, the fundraiser did say it would be used for "necessities." Sivert acknowledged on the stand that cellphones, gas, food and clothing are necessities. Gholizadeh said Redia Jennings used $12,000 raised by the GoFundMe campaign to fix damage caused by a small fire at the Parmely Avenue residence on Jan. 19. Sivert confirmed that in his testimony Tuesday. The Elyria Fire Department blamed "careless disposal of smoking materials" for the fire. The Jenningses blamed the fire on Courtney Price, Sivert testified. Sivert testified that he presented his investigation to a Lorain County grand jury, but that only Courtney Price was charged. Gholizadeh questioned why Redia Jennings was not on trial despite her allegedly admitting to using the money for personal expenses. Redia Jennings "created and edited the GoFundMe. She's obviously going to deny that because she doesn't want to be prosecuted," Gholizadeh told the jury. He told them: "You are the only ones who can stop the government from doing this to Courtney Price." Testimony resumes today. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.