A Bristol Borough renter who engaged in tenant-landlord proceedings in Bristol Borough District Court last fall stands accused of perpetrating forgery and related offenses by submitting a fake check to the Bucks County Prothonotary’s Office that was to be held in escrow while the eviction case went through the appeals process.
Aubrey Kesseler, who will be 29 in a few weeks was arraigned by District Judge Terrence Hughes Friday morning on felony counts of tampering with public records, forgery, and two related misdemeanor offenses after Bucks County Detectives took her into custody. She was released on unsecured bail, according to online court records.
According to the criminal complaint, in October, Detective Montella of the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office was assigned to investigate a fraud complaint at Bristol Borough District Court where now retired District Judge Frank W. Peranteau, Sr. once presided. The case involved a landlord/tenant dispute in which the renters, Aubrey Kesseler and James Gillespie were approximately $2,300.00 in arrears. Kesseler and Gillespie appealed a decision made by Peranteau and, as part of the process, were required to place the back-rent into an escrow account, maintained by the Bucks County Prothonotary’s Office.
During a court hearing on September 23, 2024, Judge Peranteau inquired about the total escrow account funds. After there was a discrepancy in the amount contained, Kesseler, provided the court with a receipt from the Bucks County Prothonotary’s Office which indicated that her paramour, James Gillespie deposited $2,100.00 into the account on September 9, 2024. After a brief phone call in court, the Judge determined that the receipt was likely altered/forged to document a payment that had not been made, the probable cause alleges.
On or about October 24, 2024, detectives spoke to Jessica Nemeth from the county prothonotary’s office. She confirmed that it is the policy that, when a landlord-tenant case is in the appeal process, the Prothonotary holds the tenant’s money in an escrow account. Tenant-Landlord cases start at the District Court level, but once appealed, they are sent to the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. Nemeth confirmed that the receipt dated July 9, 2024, in the amount of $2100 presented by Kesseler and in the name of James Gillespie was fraudulent. According to Nemeth, this receipt had been tampered with on the following aspects:
- The receipt was listed with a Receipt # that associated it with an organizational drawer that does not exist in the Bucks County Prothonotary Office’s system.
- The provided date (“09/09/20243:50.00”) did not match the format utilized by the office’s system.
- The indicated sequence was incorrect.
- The total amount indicated on the receipt did not populate in the manner of the office’s format.
Nemeth further confirmed that Kesseler and Gillespie did not have any money in an escrow account that corresponded to the alleged payment.
When confronted by investigators, Kessler admitted to passing the receipt to the staff at Bristol Borough District Court.
Kessler has no attorney of record, as of publication time and has a court date set for April 23 in Levittown.
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